The Hellmouth is Not Enough
by Randy S
Summary: England's newest secret agent draws Sunnydale duty.
1. Prologue

Title: The Hellmouth is Not Enough (prologue)  
  
Author: Randall Stone  
  
Disclaimer: All characters are belong to someone else.  
  
Summary: England's newest secret agent draws Sunnydale duty.  
  
Notes:  
Spoilers: S1-3  
  
Continuity changes: Hopefully everything will be explained in the   
text. Bug me if anything is confusing.  
  
Category: B/X  
Rating: PG-14- nothing worse than what's on the show.  
Feedback: Yes please.  
  
*****  
  
October 1999  
  
Xander grunted as he was wakened by the ringing of the telephone.   
He rolled over in bed and stared at the device, wondering who could   
be calling. He hadn't given this number out to anyone.  
  
Well, not to anybody outside of the room anyways. Xander smiled as   
he thought of the woman next to him.  
  
Sighing, Xander decided to pick up the phone before it woke anybody   
else up.  
  
"Hello?" The English accent that he had worked to acquire over the   
last year and half came through clearly even at this ungodly hour.  
  
"Harris. Finally. We've had a devil of a time finding you." The   
voice on the other end carried the distinctive accent of an upper   
class Englishman.  
  
"I am on vacation."  
  
"Yes. What the devil are you doing in Milan?"  
  
Xander glanced at the dark haired beauty sharing his bed.   
  
"Just brushing up on a little Italian."  
  
"Well, you won't need any language skills where you're going. We've   
got a job for you in America."  
  
"So soon?" Xander had been training hard, but had yet to go on a   
live mission.   
  
"Don't worry, this is well suited to your abilities."  
  
Xander knew that that was all of the detail that he was going to get   
over an open line.  
  
"We have a jet waiting for you at Malpensa Airport. The security   
guards have the license plate number of your rental and will direct   
you to your plane."  
  
"OK, I'll get going. I should be there in about thirty-" Xander   
looked to his right as the girl next to him woke up and stretched,   
silhouetting her perfect form against the sunrise. Xander gave   
momentary thanks to the combination of climate and culture that   
encouraged Italian women to sleep in the nude, then realized that   
he had trailed off.  
  
"Make that forty five minutes."  
  
***** 


	2. Chapter 1

Title: The Hellmouth is Not Enough (Chapter One)  
  
Author: Randall Stone  
  
Disclaimer: All characters are belong to someone else.  
  
Summary: England's newest secret agent draws Sunnydale duty.  
  
Notes:  
Spoilers: S1-3  
  
Changes: Hopefully everything will be explained in the text. Bug   
me if anything is confusing.  
  
Continuity notes:   
- S3 proceeded as written (I'm assuming a 'self-healing' view of   
history, rather than a 'step on a butterfly and change   
everything' view)  
- Bond notes: The Connery movies happened, and all the events   
from the book happened. None of the Moore, Dalton, or Brosnan   
movies have happened. Instead, Bond moved into gradually less   
physically demanding roles, finally winding up in an advisory   
position for a decade or so before retiring. Think of him as   
being physically the way Connery was in Entrapment.  
  
This is a fun fic, so I'll be playing a little fast and loose with   
the characters. They should be recognizable, but I'm not making   
any effort to match up with S4 canon.  
  
Category: B/X  
Rating: PG-14- nothing worse than what's on the show.  
Feedback: Yes please.  
  
*****  
  
Xander reclined in the luxurious seating in the back of the Lear   
Jet, sighing contentedly as he was whisked towards London at three   
hundred miles an hour. Working for the Crown had its privileges.  
  
Life was a funny thing. If you had asked Xander four years ago   
about vampires, he would have told you that they were nothing but a   
myth. If you had asked him two years ago if he would ever live in   
England, he would have said that it was unlikely. And if you had   
asked him a eighteen months ago if he would ever be a spy, he would   
have laughed out loud.  
  
And yet here he was, England's most freshly minted secret agent, with   
a license to kill and the training to do so.  
  
In an attempt to distract himself from the tedium of air travel,   
Xander settled back and reflected on the last two years of his life.  
  
---  
  
May 1998  
  
"You're moving where?" Willow was shocked.  
  
"London. My dad finally gets a job, and it turns out that he's   
going to have to drag us all to another country. Figures."  
  
"When are you going?"  
  
"Pretty much now. I've got to pack today, and we're on an early   
morning flight tomorrow. Dad doesn't want to waste any time."  
  
"Does Cordelia know about this?"  
  
"Yeah, she's got everything planned out. We're having a tearful   
goodbye tomorrow, then maintaining a long distance relationship.   
Two weeks in to that we'll mutually agree that we need to start   
seeing other people."  
  
"Well yay for her. But this is going to be hard on the rest of us.   
I mean, first..."  
  
"I know, Wills. Buffy's gone to who knows where, and now this. But   
hey, at least you'll have the G-man to lean on."  
  
Giles chose not to dignify that remark with a response, instead   
choosing to remove and clean his glasses. The three of them were   
gathered in the Sunnydale Library after the end of the school day.  
  
"Besides, it's not like my parents are giving me any say in this."  
  
"But you'll write. And you'll call. Right?"  
  
"Of course." Xander laughed. "It's not like I'm trying to run away   
from my friends."  
  
An awkward silence followed that statement. After a moment Xander   
felt compelled to speak again.  
  
"Hey Giles, any pointers before I go? Maybe I can look up some of   
your old friends."  
  
Giles flinched, and his glasses polishing increased in intensity.  
  
"I don't think that would be wise."  
  
---  
  
FIVE DAYS LATER  
  
Xander was sitting in his family's new living room thinking over   
Giles' words to him. He figured that Giles just didn't want him to   
know that his old friends were as stuffy as he was. To be honest,   
at the moment he was bored enough that he would have welcomed a   
conversation with Giles. It was Wednesday night, he didn't know   
anybody here, and all of his things were still awaiting transport on   
some freight plane somewhere.  
  
His teachers had made up a packet for him to work on in order to   
officially move on to the next grade, but he had already done the   
reading for today. And to cap everything off, their cable system   
wasn't due to be hooked up for another week.  
  
Xander had just about decided to start working ahead on his homework   
when a motion outside caught his eye. He stood and focused his   
attention outdoors.  
  
Out on the street an old man, who Xander recognized as one of his   
new neighbors, was being accosted by some street toughs. He was   
leaning heavily on his cane as he attempted to reason with them.   
Xander quietly opened his front door and started to walk to his   
neighbor's aid.  
  
Xander had only taken a few steps when he saw the street toughs'   
faces morph into the all too familiar visage of a vampire's game   
face. Xander was momentarily thankful for the residual Sunnydale   
paranoia that led him to keep a stake on his person at all times.  
  
Still, this was a pretty sticky situation. Xander didn't like his   
own odds going up against two vampires on his own, let alone trying   
to save the old man. Xander broke into a run.  
  
And stopped in his tracks as the old man suddenly leveled the odds.   
He stabbed his cane back, directly into the heart of the vampire   
behind him. Even as the vampire was turning to dust the old man   
depressed a button on the cane, causing a stream of water to shoot   
out into the other vampire's face. It soon became apparent that it   
was holy water from the way the vampire clutched his face and began   
to roll around on the ground.  
  
The old man stood over the fallen vampire, waiting for an opening to   
finish him off. As he was waiting, another previously unseen vampire   
approached him from behind.  
  
Xander reacted quickly, leaping the fence and staking the vampire in   
the back close to where he thought the heart should be. He was   
rewarded by the vampire turning to dust just as the old man turned   
around. The old man nodded at him, then turned around and plunged   
his cane through the heart of the final vampire. He then turned   
back to face Xander.  
  
"Good show, lad."  
  
"Thanks. Um, I'm your new neighbor, Xander Harris. Good to meet   
you, Mr..." Xander held out his hand.  
  
The old man reached out and clasped Xander's hand in a firm   
handshake while introducing himself.  
  
"Bond. James Bond."  
  
---  
  
Xander and James soon fell into a habit of going out twice a week to   
"clear out the riffraff", as Bond put it. Xander was curious as to   
where Bond had acquired his fighting ability, as well as the vast   
array of demon fighting equipment that he kept in his apartment.   
But Bond made it clear that he was reluctant to talk about his past,   
and Xander let the matter drop.  
  
The two found out that they got along together well despite the age   
difference between them. They had similar senses of humor, and they   
would spend hours after- and during- patrols in trying to convince   
each other of the merits of their particular brands of football.  
  
Xander was open in discussing his past, and Bond soon learned of   
Xander's past, the friends he had left behind, and the struggles of   
the rag tag group trying to keep the world safe for normal people.  
  
It was during one of their late night conversations a month after   
they had met, that James broached a subject that was to change   
Xander's life forever.  
  
---  
  
"... so I'm just saying that in order to appreciate the beauty of   
the play action pass you need to see it in action."  
  
Bond shook his head, then leaned forward, suddenly serious.  
  
"Tell me, Xander, have you given much thought to your future?"  
  
"No, not really." Xander looked around uncomfortably.   
  
The two of them were in James' richly furnished den. Xander was   
sprawled out on the leather couch. In front of him was a mahogany   
coffee table that complemented the tan coloring of the rich woolen   
carpet. Bond was seated across from Xander on his favorite arm   
chair. The room was decorated with a wide selection of photos of   
Bond in exotic locales- usually with a beautiful woman hanging off   
of his arm. Very few of the women appeared in more than one   
photograph.  
  
"I mean, " Xander continued, "I don't really want to go to a   
vocational school, but I don't think I can get in to a university.   
Honestly, I'd been trying not to think about it. It's not like my   
parents care."  
  
"That's about what I thought. I may be able to offer you another   
option."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yes. I've been watching you for the last month, and you definitely   
have potential. I think my former employers would be very   
interested in you."  
  
"What did you used to do, anyways?"  
  
"I can't tell you until you're ready. And that's the other thing-   
it will be a lot of work before I feel you're ready. You have the   
potential, but you lack a certain... refinement."  
  
"How much work are we talking about here?"  
  
"Three or four hours a day for about six months. I warn you, I'm   
not an easy teacher. Are you still interested"  
  
"Sure. I've been fighting vampires for the last two years. How   
hard can this be?"  
  
---  
  
ONE WEEK LATER  
  
"Soup spoon, knife, um... backup knife?"  
  
"That would be the fish knife and the meat knife."  
  
"Yeah, that's what I was going to say."  
  
"Of course. Go ahead and pick it up."  
  
Xander picked up the knife, holding it in the fist.  
  
"Xander, you're supposed to use the knife to cut your fish, not kill   
your host."  
  
Bond demonstrated the proper way to hold a knife.  
  
"I just don't see the point of all this. I mean, the food gets to   
my mouth anyways, right?"  
  
"Xander, if you wish to be a part of civilized society, you must at   
least appear to be civilized.  
  
---  
  
TWO WEEKS LATER  
  
"New toy today."   
  
Bond handed the object in his hands over to Xander for examination.   
It was a set of brass knuckles with a twist. A line of crosses   
fixed to the striking surface glinted in the street lamps as Xander   
walked alongside James in their late night patrol.  
  
"Nice. When do I get to play with it?" Xander asked as he handed   
the weapon back to Bond.  
  
"Now, now- you know you have to learn to walk before you try to   
run."  
  
Xander nodded reluctantly.  
  
"Which reminds me, did you finish the reading that I asked you to   
complete for tonight?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Well then, tell me about Cabernet Savignon."  
  
"It's a red wine grape that is one of the major components of French   
Bordeaux. It also contains a lot of tannins that lead to long aged   
red wines."  
  
"Excellent. Merlot?"  
  
"Also a part of the Bordeaux, but with less tannin than the Savignon,   
so it makes the wine smoother."  
  
"Good. Now, how about the Grenache?"  
  
"Um... it's a grape. It, uh..." Xander's stalling was interrupted   
by the approach of a vampire, the first they had seen all night.  
  
Bond shot a quick grin at Xander as the creature drew near, then   
threw a punch at the vampire. Bond pulled a lot of speed off of the   
punch. The vampire decided to display his physical superiority by   
catching Bond's hand in mid flight.  
  
The vampire's triumph was short lived as his hand began to burn   
before he had a chance to gloat. The vampire cursed and released   
Bond's hand, leaving himself wide open for a haymaker from Bond's   
left hand. The vampire was knocked down but sprang quickly back to   
its feet, mostly uninjured.  
  
During the ensuing fist fight Xander maneuvered himself until he was   
behind the vampire, sneaking a peek at his notes as he did so.   
Xander waited until it looked like Bond was tiring before   
interrupting the fight by punching the vampire in the kidneys as   
hard as he could with his right hand.  
  
The blow shook the vampire, and he spun around to face Xander with   
murder in his eyes. The vampire didn't get a chance to act upon his   
murderous impulses, however, as Bond took advantage of Xander's   
distraction to draw his stake from inside his jacket and stake the   
vampire from behind.  
  
As the vampire turned to dust, Xander continued their conversation   
as if they had never been interrupted.  
  
"As I was saying, the Grenache grape is found in southern France and   
Spain and is often used to make rose wine."  
  
"Very good, lad. We'll see how much you remember tomorrow without   
your notes."  
  
---  
  
FOUR WEEKS LATER  
  
Xander was in agony. His calves were burning, his neck was sore,   
and he felt constant pin pricks all over his body no matter how he   
stood. And he had no idea of the purpose for the chalk marks   
that the tailor was placing all over the suit he was wearing.  
  
"This seems like an awful lot of work just to buy new clothes."   
Xander turned to address James, who was watching the whole spectacle   
with some amusement.  
  
"Come now, lad. It's a small price to pay to look your best.   
Besides, they'd hardly let you in the door in Monte Carlo in one of   
your polyester ensembles."  
  
"Hey, there's nothing wrong with- Monte Carlo?"  
  
"Yes, I think it's high time we take a trip. All work and no play   
and all that."  
  
---  
  
It was a lot of work, but finally, five months later, Bond felt that   
Xander was sufficiently prepared to hear what the payoff for all of   
his hard work was to be.  
  
---  
  
"You were a spy?"  
  
"I know it's a lot to take in, but-"  
  
"And you want me to be a spy?"  
  
"Essentially, yes."  
  
"I'm not even English!"  
  
"You're getting there."  
  
Xander looked down at the well tailored grey suit he was wearing and   
realized that a trace of an accent was creeping into his voice.  
  
"In all seriousness, Xander, most of the work that I did was not for   
the benefit of any one nation. Usually I was working to stop some   
mad man from enriching himself by terrorizing innocent people.  
  
"Since I retired, there have been a few men that tried to take my   
place. Good men. But they just didn't have that something extra,   
that spark that would make them great. Now- well, they're not in   
that line of work any more.  
  
"I see that spark in you Xander. I think that you could accomplish   
a lot of good things."  
  
"Thanks. Look, this is tempting. You know I've always wanted to   
make a difference. But why would British Intelligence trust a guy   
like me?"  
  
"You let me worry about that.   
  
"Now, this isn't some summer job that you can jump into and out of   
when you feel like it. This is going to be a serious commitment   
that requires a lot of work, and you're going to have to make some   
tough decisions. Are you still interested?"  
  
Xander considered. He had never really dared to aspire to great   
things- the seed of self doubt in him told him that he was better   
off being the wisecracking sidekick. This would be a big change for   
him. But in the end, there was only one thing he could say.  
  
"Yes."  
  
---  
  
It turned out that having James Bond vouching for you went a long   
way in the halls of MI-6. However, it did not exempt Xander from   
having to meet their exacting physical standards.  
  
First, he was put through a standard British Army boot camp. Though   
he had always kept himself in good shape, Xander found that the   
twelve week course removed about five pounds of excess fat and left   
him in the best physical shape of his life. He had a feeling that   
the fieldcraft and weapon training that he went through would also   
prove useful. He passed with flying colours.  
  
Then, in what he could only assume was a move motivated by a desire   
to weed out the upstart American, he was jumped into the SAS   
Selection course.  
  
Xander was by far the youngest member of his one hundred and twenty   
five man Selection class, and he often considered dropping out.   
During the Long Drag, a forty mile hike over the mountains of Wales   
with a fifty five pound pack, the only thing that kept Xander going   
was his desire to stick it to all of the people in his life who had   
told him that he was never going to amount to anything. He ran   
through the list in his head and had just made it to his eleventh   
grade English teacher when he staggered over the finish line.  
  
After the mountain stage, the jungle training was almost a break for   
Xander. After all, even the most dangerous jungle was not much more   
dangerous than simply walking down the streets of Sunnydale after   
dark. The training was all new to Xander, but the jungle simply   
didn't get into his head the way it did with some of his classmates.  
  
Xander's Sunnydale experience also left him well prepared   
psychologically for the Escape and Evasion training. In the end,   
when he was one of the ten members of his class that made it   
through the entire course, MI-6 was forced to acknowledge that   
Bond's instincts had been correct, and they brought Xander on board.   
They even gave him Bond's old number.  
  
Being brought on at MI-6 meant that Xander had to complete yet more   
training, this time in spycraft. After that, he was finally able to   
take some well earned vacation time.  
  
---  
  
And now, Xander thought as his plane touched down, M had cut his   
vacation short to send him out on his first mission. He was   
looking forward to it.  
  
*****  
  
Next chapter: gadgets! Plus, something resembling a plot.  
  
--Randy 


	3. Chapter 2

Title: The Hellmouth is Not Enough (Chapter Two)  
  
Author: Randall Stone  
  
Disclaimer: All characters are belong to someone else.  
  
Summary: England's newest secret agent draws Sunnydale duty.  
  
Notes:  
Spoilers: S1-3  
  
Changes: Hopefully everything will be explained in the text. Bug   
me if anything is confusing.  
  
Continuity notes:   
- S3 proceeded as written (I'm assuming a 'self-healing' view of   
history, rather than a 'step on a butterfly and change   
everything' view)  
- Bond notes: The Connery movies happened, and all the events   
from the book happened. None of the Moore, Dalton, or Brosnan   
movies have happened. Instead, Bond moved into gradually less   
physically demanding roles, finally winding up in an advisory   
position for a decade or so before retiring. Think of him as   
being physically the way Connery was in Entrapment.  
  
This is a fun fic, so I'll be playing a little fast and loose with   
the characters. They should be recognizable, but I'm not making   
any effort to match up with S4 canon.  
  
Category: B/X  
Rating: PG-14- nothing worse than what's on the show.  
Feedback: Yes please.  
  
*****  
  
Forrest Grant and Graham Miller stood shoulder to shoulder and   
watched the helicopter approach them. They were standing in an arid   
plain that had once been the site of a verdant Colombian rainforest.   
Their four by four vehicle was parked behind them, at the end of a   
dusty road. The ground around them was absolutely flat and provided   
no cover.  
  
The two men contrasted in their physical appearance; Graham was a   
tall, broad shouldered blonde, while Forrest was a lithely built   
black man of average height. Many unfortunates had discovered that   
the pair were similar in one way: they were both killers.  
  
Graham squinted at the chopper as it grew closer.  
  
"Looks like a repainted Colombian army job."  
  
"Are you accusing our visitors of theft, Mr. Miller?"  
  
"The world being what it is, they probably bought it fair and   
square, Mr. Grant."  
  
The helicopter settled down about two hundred feet from the pair.   
They watched as three men climbed down from inside the chopper. A   
short Hispanic man took the point, carrying a large black suitcase.   
Behind him were two larger men who were there to ensure the honesty   
of the deal.   
  
"You have the device?" The short man called out as soon as he was   
within ten feet of them.  
  
"Luis, always straight to the point." Forrest responded, and   
gestured back to the vehicle.  
  
Graham walked back to the four by four and retrieved a shiny metal   
case from the back. He returned to the tableau and exchanged   
suitcases with Luis. Forrest drifted over to watch over Luis'   
shoulder while Graham walked back to their truck to count the money.   
  
Luis opened the case, revealing a computer integrated into the case.   
Luis removed a disk from his pocket and inserted it into the floppy   
drive. He then clicked through a few screens to open up a file   
contained on the disk. It appeared on the screen as gibberish.  
  
Moving slower now, Luis hunted through the program's menu for the   
command that he wanted. Entering it, he watched as the random   
characters on the screen resolved into ten lines, each consisting of  
ten numbers.  
  
Trembling now, Luis removed the disk from the drive and compared the   
numbers printed on its label to the numbers on the screen.  
  
"They match! Dios mio, it works!" Excited, Luis closed the case   
and stood expectantly.  
  
Forrest and Luis looked to Graham, who was just finishing his count.   
He turned and gave them the thumbs up.  
  
Forrest turned to speak to Luis, but he had turned and run off as   
soon as Graham gave the sign. Forrest and Graham stood side by side   
again as they watched the men pile into the helicopter and readied   
for takeoff.  
  
"Always a pleasure doing business with that man. It's a shame his   
competitors outbid him for our services, Mr Miller."  
  
"It's a dog eat dog world, Mr. Grant."  
  
The two stood in a companionable silence as they watched the   
helicopter take off. When it reached three hundred feet, Forrest   
reached into his pocket and removed a small box with an antenna and   
a single button.  
  
"Ah, well. If God had intended man to fly, Mr. Miller..."  
  
Forrest pressed the button on his remote, and the two watched the   
helicopter explode in a spectacular fireball.  
  
"He would have given him wings, Mr. Grant."  
  
---  
  
"What do you know about computers, 007?" M asked.  
  
"They're expensive, they're obsolete after a year, and they allow   
one to play solitaire very efficiently."  
  
"They're also revolutionizing the world of crime. It may surprise   
you to learn this, 007, but one of the criminal organizations who   
are most sophisticated in using computer technology are the   
Colombian drug cartels.  
  
"They are already discovering moles at an alarming rate through the   
application of simple data mining technology. Matching up drug   
busts over time with the internal people who knew where the drugs   
were, that sort of thing.   
  
"The latest threat is the so-called 'Codebreaker' chip, a sort of   
holy grail of information technology. Theoretically, somebody with   
this chip could decode government messages almost as soon as they   
intercepted them."  
  
"They can do that?"  
  
"In theory yes. Nobody has been able to produce such a chip. Until   
now."  
  
M withdrew a manila folder from its desk and handed it across to   
Xander. Xander opened it to find a personnel file. He skimmed over   
it while M spoke.  
  
"Riley Finn. Aged thirty years, he spent some time in the United   
States special forces, serving in Bolivia, Ecuador, and Colombia.   
He retired in 1992 to found a technology startup specializing in the   
production of exotic computer chips, based out of Sunnydale   
California.   
  
"We have reason to believe that he has begun production of the   
Codebreaker chips and is attempting to sell them to the drug   
cartels."  
  
"With all due respect sir, isn't this an American matter? Why not   
let the CIA deal with him?"  
  
"Ordinarily that's just what we would do. Unfortunately our only   
source on this matter is highly sensitive. Your assignment is to   
provide corroborating data that we can then present to the   
Americans.  
  
"Of course, stopping the distribution of these chips is in our best   
interests as well. You can imagine the interest that the IRA would   
have in obtaining one."  
  
Xander nodded.  
  
"Now, the information that I am about to impart to you is highly   
sensitive. Ripper is one of our most deeply placed agents, and the   
number of people who are even aware of his existence can be counted   
on the fingers of one hand. But you are going to have to work with   
him closely in the field, so you need to know his background."  
  
With that, M unlocked a drawer in his desk and withdrew another   
folder which he passed across to Xander.  
  
---  
  
Xander was still shaking his head as he approached Q branch. All   
this time they thought Giles had just been making reports to the   
Watcher's Council.  
  
Xander opened the door and walked in to the Q branch facility. He   
walked up behind a man who was hunched over his work bench.  
  
"Good afternoon, Q."  
  
"Good afternoon, 007. Assigned to Sunnydale, eh?"   
  
"And they say you can never go home again."  
  
Though his thinning white hair showed that he was not immune to the   
ravages of time, Q's step was as spry as ever as he led Xander over   
to the firing range. Suddenly remembering something, Q stopped and   
reached into his pocket. He withdrew a silver wristwatch and held   
it out to Xander.  
  
"Branching out into formal wear, Q?"  
  
"Hardly. The watch is powered by a quartz mechanism. The winding   
knob, here, detaches."  
  
Q detached the knob and drew it out a couple of feet from the body   
of the watch where it stopped as if it had reached the end of a   
tether. Looking closely, Xander could barely make out some kind of   
wire attaching the knob to the watch. He reached out to feel for   
it.  
  
"Don't touch that! It's synthesized spider silk, hundreds of times   
stronger than steel. Cuts through flesh like a knife through   
butter."  
  
"Handy."  
  
"So glad you approve, 007."   
  
Q yanked the knob out, engaging the retraction system, and then   
eased it back to the watch. After affixing it back in place, he   
handed the watch off to Xander.  
  
"Now," Q said as they approached the firing range, "as you know,   
Sunnydale is a den of supernatural activity. We've developed some   
specialized ammunition to help even the odds.  
  
"Silver bullets, of course, in the silver striped clips." Q saw   
Xander's raised eyebrow. "We'll be wanting those back, along with   
an inventory slip detailing shots fired.  
  
"The yellow striped clips contain armor piercing rounds. They will   
penetrate light Kevlar armor, and should be enough to slow down most   
demons."  
  
"Do you have any incendiaries? I'm most concerned about vampires."  
  
"No, 007. Unfortunately, we have not yet found material that   
provides sufficient thermal energy to destroy the undead. Our   
testing has shown that vampire internals are not particularly   
flammable.  
  
"On the plus side, these are quite clever. Hollow points, with a   
twist."  
  
Q withdrew a clip with a blue stripe around the bottom from the   
ammunition box, and held out his hand. Xander passed over his   
Walther PPK.  
  
Q switched out the clip, then took aim at the target and squeezed   
off a few shots. Lowering the weapon, he gestured for Xander to   
follow him down range.  
  
Q pointed to the wet spots where the bullets had impacted.  
  
"Holy water, naturally. But that's not the best bit."  
  
Q bent over and retrieved one of the spent bullets, which had   
deformed into a rough but recognizable cross shape.  
  
"Specially weakened to deform into a cross on impact, with about an   
eighty percent success rate."  
  
"Impressive."  
  
"Thank you 007. You'll find the special ammunition stowed in the   
trunk of your car. Speaking of which..."  
  
Q led Xander back across the workshop to where his car was waiting.   
  
"The Aston Martin V12 Vanquish. It won't be on the market for a few   
years, but they were kind enough to send us this model. We'll fly   
it in to the states with you. We've made a few modifications, of   
course."  
  
Q walked over and rapped his knuckles against the windshield.  
  
"Windscreen, bulletproof. As are the side and rear windows.   
Revolving license plates, naturally."  
  
Q demonstrated the dashboard knob that switched the plates from   
California to Oregon to Washington.  
  
"Valid in all states. Now, flip up the central arm rest."  
  
Xander opened the driver's side door and flipped open the central   
arm rest.  
  
"Here you'll find your defense mechanisms. Smoke, oil slick, and the   
front left and right mounted machine guns." Q leaned in from the   
passenger side and pointed out each control in turn.  
  
"This one was inspired by the South Africans. This button engages   
the front mounted flamethrower system. It has an effective range of   
thirty feet.  
  
"Now, this bit I'm particularly keen on. If you flip open the gear   
shift-" Xander did so- "you'll find a red button. Whatever you do,   
don't push it."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because it will detach this section of the roof and engage the   
passenger side ejection seat."  
  
Xander stood to see over the car and looked Q in the eye.  
  
"An ejection seat? You're joking."  
  
"I never joke about my work, 007."  
  
*****  
  
Next up, homecoming.  
  
--Randy 


	4. Chapter 3

Title: The Hellmouth is Not Enough (Chapter Three)  
  
Author: Randall Stone  
  
Disclaimer: All characters are belong to someone else.  
  
Summary: England's newest secret agent draws Sunnydale duty.  
  
Notes:  
Spoilers: S1-3  
  
Changes: Hopefully everything will be explained in the text. Bug   
me if anything is confusing.  
  
Continuity notes:   
- S3 proceeded as written (I'm assuming a 'self-healing' view of   
history, rather than a 'step on a butterfly and change   
everything' view)  
- Bond notes: The Connery movies happened, and all the events   
from the book happened. None of the Moore, Dalton, or Brosnan   
movies have happened. Instead, Bond moved into gradually less   
physically demanding roles, finally winding up in an advisory   
position for a decade or so before retiring. Think of him as   
being physically the way Connery was in Entrapment.  
  
This is a fun fic, so I'll be playing a little fast and loose with   
the characters. They should be recognizable, but I'm not making   
any effort to match up with S4 canon.  
  
Category: B/X  
Rating: PG-14- nothing worse than what's on the show.  
Feedback: Yes please.  
  
*****  
  
"What is the what?"  
  
"What's the what."  
  
"What's the what?"  
  
Xander sat in his car outside of Giles' apartment, repeating the   
casual greeting. He smiled as his voice regained the Californian   
inflection of his youth.  
  
"Time to have a little fun with Mr. Giles."  
  
----  
  
Rupert Giles always carried himself with a certain reserve. He felt   
that this suited his position both as a librarian and as a Watcher.   
The fact that he was not currently employed in either of these   
capacities had little effect on his bearing. Generations of   
training led him to maintain a stiff upper lip at all times.  
  
He wasn't the sort of man who would be driven to restless pacing   
just because somebody was late for a vital meeting. No, he was   
waiting calmly, sipping his tea. It would take an astute observer   
to note the whitening of his knuckles where he had gripped the tea   
cup, or the restless motions of his other hand.  
  
He had been told to expect the agent at 11:30, and it was almost   
noon. MI-6 operatives had never been late for meetings with him   
before- there must be a good reason for the delay this time. A damn   
good reason.  
  
Giles was mulling over this train of thought when he was interrupted   
by a knock at the door. He calmly set down his tea and walked   
briskly to the door. He threw the door open expectantly, only to be   
confronted with the sight of Xander Harris.  
  
"Hey G-man, what's the what?"  
  
Not waiting for an answer, Xander walked past Giles into his   
apartment.  
  
"Nice digs. Willow gave me the address. She doesn't write as much   
as she used to, but she's kept me up to date with the highlights.   
So, you blew up the high school, huh? Can't look to good on the   
ol' resume."  
  
"There were extenuating circumstances. The mayor-"  
  
"Yeah, I know, giant snake." Xander started rummaging around Giles'   
kitchen. "Say, did you guys get my snack stash out of the library   
before you blew the place to hell?"  
  
"No, I'm afraid we were concerned with more pressing matters."  
  
"Man, I left town and your priorities just went straight out of   
whack."  
  
Giles was left speechless by this remark as Xander wandered in to   
the living room.  
  
"Hey you have a tv! You're just like the rest of us."  
  
Xander began looking around for a remote control.  
  
Giles finally composed himself and cleared his throat to get   
Xander's attention.  
  
"Xander, while it is nice to be in your... unique... presence after   
such a long absence, I'm afraid that I am expecting a rather   
important visitor. Could you return some other time, say this   
evening perhaps?"  
  
"Oh sure, no problem." Xander straightened up, then suddenly patted   
his pockets. "Say, do you have a match?"  
  
"I use a lighter."  
  
"Even better."  
  
"Until they break."  
  
"Exactly."  
  
Giles' eyes widened in realization. "You?"  
  
"Afraid so." Xander suddenly seemed to have a much more serious air   
about him. "It surprised me too- how long have you been a spy?"  
  
Giles sighed heavily and sat down at his kitchen table. "I am not a   
'spy'. I am a Watcher. I watch. If I see something dangerous that   
isn't supernatural I merely report it to the proper authorities."   
  
Xander nodded. He knew that that was not the entire extent of   
Giles' involvement with MI-6, but he respected Giles' unwillingness   
to discuss the issue.  
  
"So, tell me about our man Finn."  
  
"Not too much to tell, really. Buffy was fighting a demon in the   
hills north of Sunnydale- a Fyarl demon, I believe. We'd been   
tracking it for some time. I was keeping an eye on the battle with   
a scrying spell that I use on occasion. The spell has the useful   
property of locking on to the strongest source of evil within a   
given area.  
  
"When Buffy succeeded in slaying the demon, the spell jumped to a   
debriefing presented by Mr. Finn. He was discussing the Codebreaker   
chip with some nasty looking fellows who appeared to be working for   
him. I was not able to obtain much useful information, as the spell   
was blocked minutes after it had locked on to Finn.  
  
"I did some research into Mr. Finn, but I didn't come up with much.   
He is a successful local businessman with a passing interest in   
psychology. He has actually been a guest lecturer in Buffy's   
psychology class.   
  
"He does own a factory in the area close to where Buffy killed the   
Fyarl demon. I believe that that would be a fruitful location at   
which to begin your investigation."  
  
----  
  
The two men were involved in an animated discussion over a map of   
Sunnydale when Buffy arrived.  
  
"Hello Giles, hello- Xander!"  
  
"Buffy." Xander walked over and took her hand, raising it to his   
lips. "I had thought that my memories exaggerated your beauty, but I   
see that they did not do you justice."  
  
Buffy raised an eyebrow at him. "So while you were gone they gave   
you a Don Juan personality transplant?"  
  
"You wound me." Xander clasped his hands over his heart in mock   
horror. "Besides, I'm sure you inspire eloquence in all of your   
suitors."  
  
He grinned at her, and Buffy couldn't help but smile in response.  
  
"Seriously, what have you been doing? And what are you doing back?   
Give me details."  
  
"I'd love to, but I'm afraid that I'm here on business and I have   
to leave now. Giles just finished showing me how to get to my   
meeting. I'd be happy to catch up over dinner, say 7:00."  
  
"Sure, if nothing Hellmouthy comes up."  
  
"Great, I'll pick you up at your dorm. Wear something nice- we'll   
be eating on the company dime."  
  
----  
  
Xander lowered his binoculars in frustration and took a swig of   
water from his canteen. It was a hot day, and he had been sitting   
in direct sunlight observing Finn's factory complex for two hours   
now.  
  
He had driven his car up in to the hills above Finn's factory and   
parked it out of sight before hiking back to his current location.   
From where he was sitting he had a good view of most of the   
buildings in the complex, and could watch the movement of the   
personnel. So far there had been little activity. Xander had   
managed to map out the movements of the guards over the last couple   
of hours, which he hoped would come in handy.  
  
Xander's patience was finally rewarded a half hour later when an   
expensive foreign car pulled in to the parking lot. Through his   
binoculars he recognized Riley Finn exiting the vehicle. He watched   
as Finn entered the main building, then set his binoculars aside.   
Xander gathered up his camera and made his way down the hill side.  
  
Xander paused when he reached the last line of trees. He waited for   
the patrolling guard to move past, then ran to the chain link fence   
and scaled it quickly. He knew he had only a few minutes before the   
next guard would come around.  
  
Fortunately the fence did not prove to be much of an obstacle, and   
Xander was able to get over it and dart between the nearest   
buildings before the next guard came around.  
  
Xander worked his way to the back of the building that he had seen   
Finn enter. This was the largest building, which dominated the   
complex. It sat in the center and obviously acted as the main   
production unit- most of the other buildings appeared to act as   
storage. In the back of the large building where Xander was   
standing was a loading dock.  
  
Due to an overabundance of inventory there were piles of crates   
outside of the building waiting to be processed. Xander climbed up   
to the top of the largest pile and found a convenient ventilation   
grating through which he could observe the interior of the building.   
He pulled some loose boxes around him to form a sort of nest and   
settled in to see what he could discover.  
  
Directly in front of the grating Xander could see a metal walkway   
that terminated in a stairway to the main floor of the factory. The   
other end of the walkway disappeared into what looked like private   
offices.  
  
What he could see of the main factory floor looked like the pictures   
he had been shown of other chipmaking plants. The sophisticated   
industrial machinery and assembly line efficiency of the workers   
suggested a tightly run organization.  
  
Xander's investigation of the factory was interrupted as two figures   
walked past him on the walkway. The lead figure stopped when he   
reached the stairway and turned to address the other. Xander   
recognized him as Riley Finn.   
  
Xander did not recognize the other man. Xander took his picture when   
the man turned to stand alongside Finn at the railing of the walkway,   
looking over the factory. The man was very nondescript. Average   
height, average build, brown hair, brown eyes. Xander knew that an   
easily forgettable face was a major asset for criminal go betweens.  
  
"Impressive, is it not?" Riley asked his companion. "Fourth   
largest silicon factory in the state- and we have all of the modern   
equipment."  
  
"A fine business to be in."  
  
"You bet, especially in this market. But that's not the best part.   
Take a look in the mirror." Riley gestured at a large mirror that   
lined the far wall of the factory.  
  
Xander followed Riley's gesture, and it was only his years of   
exposure to Hellmouth related events that prevented him from gasping   
along with Riley's guest. The mirror reflected all of the machinery   
and activity inside the plant- except for the workers."  
  
"They're not-"  
  
"Vampires? You bet." Riley chuckled. "They're tireless workers,   
and they don't have to be paid- well, not in cash. All of the money   
reported as 'wage expenses' actually goes into bank accounts that I   
control."  
  
"Aren't you worried about the vampires attacking you? My   
understanding is that they are merciless killers."  
  
Riley's smile turned sinister. "Don't worry- they've been...   
conditioned not to step out of line."  
  
"Very well. I'm not here to tell you how to run your business. But   
there are concerns about the level of concentration demanded."  
  
"I can assure you that from this point on my entire focus will be on   
Operation Grand Slam..."   
  
Riley spoke as the men continued on down the stairs. Xander had to   
strain to make out the last few words as they moved out of earshot.  
  
Xander wished that he could have heard more, but he knew that he'd   
caught a lucky break in overhearing as much as he had. Besides- he   
checked his watch- he had to hurry or he would be late for his   
dinner with Buffy.  
  
Xander took a few pictures of the factory floor, making sure to get   
the mirror and the floor into the frame at the same time. He then   
made his way out of the complex in the same way that he had come in.   
  
As he was walking through the woods back to his car, Xander's   
thoughts turned to Buffy. He had fallen for her at first sight, but   
she had never considered him as more than her Xander-shaped friend.   
She had definitely seemed to be flirting with him earlier, but that   
could just be wishful thinking. He knew, both from James' teachings   
and his own personal experience, that it was easier to escape from   
Alcatraz than from the label of 'just a friend'. Still, he was   
going to give it a try.  
  
Xander's musings were cut short when he tripped over a wire   
stretched between two trees on his path. He hit the ground, then   
looked over to find that the wire was not hooked up to a trap, but   
to an alarm system. Xander jumped to his feet and sprinted the rest   
of the way to his car, jumping in and starting the engine   
immediately.  
  
He had been driving for about half a minute when he saw the cars   
pull on to the narrow forest road behind him and heard the gunfire   
as the took wild shots at him. Xander screamed through a few sharp   
turns, attempting to use the maneuverability of his car to escape,   
but the headlights stayed right on his tail.  
  
Fortunately, Xander had other countermeasures at his disposal. He   
flipped open the central armrest and triggered the oil slick as he   
took the next turn. Continuing on down the road, he saw the   
headlights behind him in his rearview mirror sway wildly as the lead   
car spun off the road and hit a tree. The car behind it didn't even   
make the turn as it slammed into the first car headfirst, triggering   
and explosion that sent a ball of fire up into the night.  
  
The third car drove more carefully and navigated the turn   
successfully. It was still on Xander's tail when he exited the   
woods and turned onto the two lane highway in front of the factory.   
Finn's factory was north of town, so taking the freeway south would   
take him towards Sunnydale. Xander instead headed north because he   
wanted as few innocent bystanders around as possible. The two lane   
round was not used very often, as it had been superseded by the new   
interstate years ago.  
  
At the moment the only two cars on the road were Xander and his   
pursuer. Xander put the pedal down, attempting to gain some   
distance. The Aston Martin leaped forward, quickly moving from   
forty miles an hour to seventy, then to ninety, then one hundred and   
ten.  
  
Through all of the acceleration the car behind him stayed a constant   
distance behind, indicating that he would not be able to escape   
through speed alone. Xander considered his options. The oil slick   
and smoke screen would not be very useful on the long straight   
stretch of highway on which they were driving. The machine guns   
would be useful, but they were forward facing and wouldn't do him   
much good. Unless...  
  
Deciding that it was his only option, Xander dropped his car into   
neutral. This had little effect on his forward velocity, which   
remained well above one hundred miles per hour.  
  
Gripping the emergency brake, Xander yanked the brake upwards, at   
the same time yanking his steering wheel to the left. This broke   
his wheels free from the pavement and sent the car into a spin.   
Timing it carefully, Xander released the brake and straightened out   
the wheel just in time for the car to stop spinning after a one   
hundred and eighty degree turn.  
  
He was still moving very rapidly, but backwards. Xander quickly   
activated the machine guns mounted behind his headlights and raked   
gunfire up and down the car chasing him. One of the front tires   
blew out, which caused the car to veer off very sharply to the left,   
almost flipping it over as it impacted into a telephone pole beside   
the road and exploded.  
  
Xander gently applied the brakes to slow the car down to a stop. He   
glanced at the clock for just long enough to realize that he was in   
trouble before he tore off for Sunnydale like a bat out of hell.  
  
----  
  
Xander pulled into the residential hall parking lot only ten minutes   
late. He got out of the car and walked around to open the passenger   
side door for an impatient looking slayer.  
  
"You're late."  
  
"Sorry, traffic was murder."  
  
* * * * *   
  
So ends part 3.  
  
--Randy 


	5. Chapter 4

Title: The Hellmouth is Not Enough (Chapter Four)  
  
Author: Randall Stone  
  
Disclaimer: All characters are belong to someone else.  
  
Summary: England's newest secret agent draws Sunnydale duty.  
  
Notes:  
Spoilers: S1-3  
  
Changes: Hopefully everything will be explained in the text. Bug   
me if anything is confusing.  
  
Continuity notes:   
- S3 proceeded as written (I'm assuming a 'self-healing' view of   
history, rather than a 'step on a butterfly and change   
everything' view)  
- Bond notes: The Connery movies happened, and all the events   
from the book happened. None of the Moore, Dalton, or Brosnan   
movies have happened. Instead, Bond moved into gradually less   
physically demanding roles, finally winding up in an advisory   
position for a decade or so before retiring. Think of him as   
being physically the way Connery was in Entrapment.  
  
This is a fun fic, so I'll be playing a little fast and loose with   
the characters. They should be recognizable, but I'm not making   
any effort to match up with S4 canon.  
  
Category: B/X  
Rating: PG-14- nothing worse than what's on the show.  
Feedback: Yes please.  
  
*****  
  
Xander held the door open for Buffy as she entered La Fontana,   
Sunnydale's closest approximation to an upscale Italian restaurant.   
Buffy was decked out in a little black dress complemented by a   
simple silver necklace and matching earrings. She looked stunning,   
and Xander discreetly followed her form with his eyes as she walked   
past.  
  
Xander had not had a chance to change, so he was wearing the same   
grey suit and white shirt that he had been wearing earlier. He had   
added a blue tie to the ensemble for dinner. The suit jacket that   
he was wearing was double vented, in the British fashion. This   
allowed the jacket to drape more naturally while he was standing and   
prevented it from bunching up when he sat.  
  
Buffy was unaware of this fact, as Giles was the only man she knew   
who wore suits regularly. Her analysis of Xander's clothes began   
and ended with the fact that they were far more flattering than the   
more colourful outfits he had favored in high school.  
  
And his body certainly did seem more flatter-worthy than it had in   
years past. Certainly more so than Buffy remembered. Although,   
when she thought about it, she had never paid that much attention to   
Xander's appearance while Angel was around. She had been Angel free   
for the last few months now, and seeing Xander was reawakening   
Buffy's desire to be in a relationship. She wondered briefly if   
Xander still had a thing for her, before catching herself.  
  
"Bad Buffy." She mentally scolded herself. "This is a friend that   
you haven't seen in almost two years, and this is no time to   
complicate things."  
  
Buffy managed to rouse herself from her thoughts for long enough to   
ask Xander what sort of business brought him back to Sunnydale.  
Xander launched into the topic with some gusto.  
  
"Well, it's a bit of a funny story actually. I don't know if you   
know this, but in England the mandatory schooling ends at age   
sixteen. After that you have to decide whether to go to a trade   
school or a university- and then try to get accepted to the school   
of your choice.  
  
"My parents were no help, of course, and I could have been in some   
trouble, if I hadn't caught the eye of our neighbor. Turned out   
he's retired, but still had some connections into his old firm. He   
got me in the door, and now, well..." Xander reached into the   
inside of his suit and withdrew a business card holder, from which   
he retrieved a card that he handed to Buffy.  
  
"Now I'm a sales associate. The great thing about being in sales is   
that they don't care about grades or test scores, just results. And   
it turns out that I have a bit of a knack for the business. That's   
why they gave me our first overseas assignment."  
  
"So what are you selling Xand? I can only hope that it's not   
aluminium siding." Buffy smiled at him.  
  
"Not exactly. Crowne Consulting is a software outsourcing firm. We   
take software projects outsource them to India, where our local..."  
  
It was at about this point that Buffy began to tune out Xander's   
explanation and retreat back to her own thoughts. Xander sure was   
looking good. And not just that- he had a good job and had lived in   
exotic locales. She felt very... drab in comparison. He probably   
wouldn't be interested in her anymore. Assuming he wasn't already   
seeing somebody. Oh God, he must be seeing somebody-  
  
"Buffy? Hello?"  
  
"Huh? Oh, I'm sorry." Buffy reacted to Xander's question.  
  
"No, I'm sorry, I tend to go on for far too long once I get started   
talking about my job. Why don't you fill me in on what happened   
while I was gone. Willow kept me up to date, but she only gave me   
the Cliff's Notes version."  
  
Xander laughed at himself internally as he listened to Buffy   
recounting the events of the past year. It had been three years   
since he fell for Buffy, two years since she had rejected him, and   
a year and a half since he had even seen her. And yet he still felt   
like a schoolboy in the throes of his first crush. Maybe he hadn't   
changed as much as he had thought.  
  
Xander just hoped that Buffy's feelings had changed since he had   
last seen her.  
  
---  
  
Xander and Buffy exited the restaurant walking in a much more   
familiar manner than they had entered. Their hands had clasped   
together of their own accord, and they were standing well within   
each other's personal space.  
  
They had traveled about half the distance to Xander's car when Buffy   
turned to him and spoke hesitantly.  
  
"Xander?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"You know how things can change over time?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Things like people, and feelings. What I'm getting at is, do you   
still- I mean, like when we first met, you felt-"  
  
Xander chose to answer Buffy's unasked question by leaning   
forwarding and capturing her lips in a kiss. She reacted with   
surprise at first, but was responding with enthusiasm when the two   
of them were suddenly interrupted by the sound of somebody clearing   
their throat.  
  
Buffy and Xander sprang apart and turned to see a short Asian man   
standing about ten feet away. He looked them up and down, and then   
spoke.  
  
"Buffy Summers, I presume?"  
  
"Yeah." Buffy answered, suspicious.  
  
"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Darius, and I am here to   
kill you."  
  
As he finished speaking, his features morphed into a demonic visage.   
  
"How many times am I going to have to explain this 'you vampire, me   
slayer' thing?" Buffy was not impressed.  
  
"Of course you are the Slayer. I have spent the last twenty years   
perfecting my mastery of the martial arts. Killing you represents   
the ultimate test."  
  
Even through his 'game face' it was clear that Darius was   
disappointed with their reaction as Buffy and Xander burst into a   
fit of giggles.  
  
"Did you see too many kung fu movies before you were turned or   
something?" Buffy asked.  
  
"No kidding." Xander interjected. "I'm surprised his lips even   
sync up with his voice."  
  
"Choose your next witticism carefully, young man." Darius snapped   
at Xander. "It may be your last."  
  
Not giving Xander a chance to respond, Darius made a signal with his   
hands. Three vampires emerged from the shadows and attacked. Two   
went for Buffy, while one of them attacked Xander.  
  
Xander had almost no time to react before the vampire was on him.   
He snapped out a quick jab to its face to try to keep it away from   
him. The vampire just walked through the punch, completely   
unaffected. When it was close enough it grabbed Xander and lowered   
its head to drink. While there were numerous faster ways that the   
vampire could have killed Xander, it seemed intent on demonstrating   
its total contempt for him by simply draining his lifeblood.  
  
Xander managed to get both of his hands on the vampire's throat,   
holding it off. A human attacker would have been forced to pull   
back, as Xander was gripping it strongly enough to cut off any air   
flow. The vampire, of course, was unaffected by this and continued   
its slow progress towards Xander's neck.  
  
Xander was pretty angry. Here he was, a highly trained secret   
agent, and he was about to get killed by some two bit vampire that   
managed to get the drop on him. His rage provided added strength to   
his arms and slowed the vampire's progress. But it was still   
getting ever closer to Xander's neck. That's when Xander had an   
idea.  
  
Keeping his hands on the vampire's throat, Xander slid his right   
hand over to his left and quickly unscrewed his watch fob while   
maintaining as much pressure as he could on the vampire. When the   
fob finally came loose, Xander grasped the fob firmly and spread   
both of his hands out wide, releasing the vampire.  
  
The sudden release of pressure meant that the vampire's head   
crashed forward, straight into the wire attached to Xander's watch.   
It decapitated him neatly, the vampire's head turning to dust before   
it could hit Xander's suit.  
  
Xander looked up just in time to see Buffy dispatch the second of   
her two attackers and engage Darius in combat. Darius quickly   
demonstrated that he did have some grasp of the martial arts and the   
two of them locked in a superhuman battle that Xander could hardly   
follow, let alone hope to match.  
  
It soon became apparent to Xander, as he brushed himself off and   
straightened out his suit, that Buffy was the superior of the two   
combatants. Her victory was far from assured, however, as they were   
evenly enough matched that some small misfortune could turn the tide   
of the battle.  
  
Xander briefly considered taking a shot at Darius with his pistol,   
but elected against it. In addition to the risk of drawing unwanted   
police attention, the two of them were moving quickly enough that   
there was too much of a risk of him hitting Buffy. Xander moved   
closer to the two of them and waited for his opportunity.  
  
Xander's patience was rewarded a half minute later when Darius and   
Buffy separated for a moment. Darius was about to taunt Buffy when   
Xander tapped him on the shoulder from behind. The vampire spun   
around in a fighting stance to find Xander standing casually a few   
feet away.  
  
Once he had his attention, Xander simply pointed back over Darius'   
shoulder at Buffy. Darius' eyes widened as he realized his   
mistake, and he spun back around to face the slayer just in time to   
see a stake enter his heart. The vampire was so disgusted with this   
turn of events that he didn't even say anything before he burst into   
dust.  
  
"I see you haven't slowed down any since I left. Are you hurt   
anywhere?"  
  
"Thanks, and I don't think so. That guy did come complete with kung   
fu grip." Buffy stretched out and checked herself over. "Say, what   
happened to the one that was after you?"  
  
"Oh, he picked a bad time to lose his head." Xander stepped closer   
to Buffy. "Now, where were we?"  
  
-----  
  
Graham lowered his binoculars in disgust.  
  
"The vampire has failed."  
  
"Never send a vampire to do a man's job, Mr. Grant." Forrest   
grinned.  
  
Graham didn't respond as he was still fuming over the vampire's   
failure.  
  
"Hey, buck up, big guy. Remember, if at first you don't succeed..."  
  
"Try, try again, Mr. Miller." A smile returned to Graham's face.   
Like all of his smiles, it didn't touch his eyes.  
  
* * * * *   
  
Finally finished with part 4.   
  
--Randy 


	6. Chapter 5

Title: The Hellmouth is Not Enough (Chapter Five)  
  
Author: Randall Stone  
  
Disclaimer: All characters are belong to someone else.  
  
Summary: England's newest secret agent draws Sunnydale duty.  
  
Notes:  
Spoilers: S1-3  
  
Changes: Hopefully everything will be explained in the text. Bug   
me if anything is confusing.  
  
Continuity notes:   
- S3 proceeded as written (I'm assuming a 'self-healing' view of   
history, rather than a 'step on a butterfly and change   
everything' view)  
- Bond notes: The Connery movies happened, and all the events   
from the book happened. None of the Moore, Dalton, or Brosnan   
movies have happened. Instead, Bond moved into gradually less   
physically demanding roles, finally winding up in an advisory   
position for a decade or so before retiring. Think of him as   
being physically the way Connery was in Entrapment.  
  
This is a fun fic, so I'll be playing a little fast and loose with   
the characters. They should be recognizable, but I'm not making   
any effort to match up with S4 canon.  
  
Category: B/X  
Rating: PG-14- nothing worse than what's on the show.  
Feedback: Yes please.  
  
*****  
  
"Why hello Buffy, Xander. I see you received my message." Giles   
greeted them at the door to his apartment.  
  
Xander and Buffy looked at each other, confused. Xander responded  
to Giles' statement.  
  
"No, actually, I was just dropping Buffy off for her pre-patrol   
briefing. What was the mess- oof."   
  
Xander was interrupted by a blur of red hair that chose that moment   
to crash into his chest. When he had caught his breath, Xander   
realized that it was Willow expressing her happiness to see him   
again.  
  
"Xander! I haven't seen you in forever. How have you been? Did   
you miss me? How was England? Did you miss Sunnydale? What are you   
doing here? Come here."  
  
"Good, yes, very British, yes, business trip." Xander answered   
bemusedly as he followed Willow back into the main room of Giles'   
apartment.  
  
Willow stopped him in front of the coffee table, in front of a young   
man sitting on the couch. The man appeared to be about Xander's   
age, maybe a little older. His most distinguishing feature was his   
hair, which was spiked straight up and dyed bright red.  
  
"Xander, this is Oz, my boyfriend. He plays guitar in a band."  
  
"Pleasure to meet you, Oz. Any friend of Willow's is a friend of   
mine."  
  
"Likewise."  
  
The two shook hands.  
  
"Ooh, one other thing-" Willow interjected. "Oz is a werewolf."  
  
Xander looked at Oz warily.   
  
"Isn't that a little dangerous?"  
  
"Not really. He just turns into a beast three days out of the   
month."  
  
"You're a real believer in equality in a relationship, aren't you?"  
  
Giles cleared his throat loudly, cutting off Willow before she had a   
chance to reply.  
  
"I would like to discuss the latest threat to our lives, if that is   
quite all right?" Giles looked pointedly at Xander and Willow.   
  
They nodded sheepishly and settled down to listen to Giles' lecture.  
  
"Many years ago the dominant life form in this region were the   
Vel'tok demons." Giles held up a picture of a tall, vaguely   
reptilian humanoid with blue skin. "They lived in a tribal system   
in a near constant state of war with neighboring demon tribes.  
  
"They were in the middle of one of these wars when they were   
betrayed. They had hired a mercenary sorceror who was secretly  
working for their enemy. He set protective wards that did not   
actually protect the city, and cast numerous other ineffective   
spells.  
  
"More important to us, he cast a spell imprisoning the Vel'tok   
warrior prince, Grachnar, in a pocket dimension. He is sealed off   
from this earth and the flow of time."  
  
"Seems like it's not our problem." Xander suggested.  
  
"It wouldn't be, except that my research indicates that the mystical   
forces tonight will be aligned in such a way to weaken the barriers   
between our dimension and the pocket dimension, allowing Grachnar to   
escape."  
  
"Anything special I should know about, or is this just the usual   
hack and slash sort of thing?" Buffy asked.  
  
"By all reports he is a fierce fighter. However, Beheading should be   
sufficient to kill him. My primary concern is that if he is given   
time he could assemble a demonic army to wreak havoc on Sunnydale and   
the surrounding area.   
  
"You should be able to overcome him in single combat, but I would   
recommend that the rest of us be there to keep vampires from   
attacking while you are preoccupied."  
  
"Sounds like a plan. Xander, it's been a while, so you don't have   
to come if you don't want to."  
  
"Are you kidding? It'll be like old times." Xander turned to   
Giles. "Say, how much time do we have until tall, blue and scaly   
comes to play?"  
  
Giles glanced at his watch. "Approximately an hour and a half.   
Why?"  
  
"I have a phone call I'd like to make before we go, if you don't   
mind?"  
  
"Not at all. The phone is on the kitchen counter."  
  
"Actually, I need to make a private call. It's early in the morning   
in England and my boss should just be arriving at the office."  
  
"Oh, of course." Giles picked up the slight emphasis that Xander   
put on the word 'private'. "The other phone is in the bottom drawer   
of my bedside table."  
  
---  
  
Xander entered Giles' bedroom, closed the door, and walked over to   
the bedside table. He pulled the bottom drawer open and withdrew a   
nondescript telephone. The black telephone looked like it could   
have come off of the shelf of the local Best Buy. It's most notable   
feature was a digital display used to display the phone number of   
incoming calls.  
  
Xander retrieved his wallet from his pocket and removed a small card   
that had a digital readout on the front. Picking up the receiver   
he dialed the security code off of his card and was rewarded by the   
sound of a dial tone.  
  
Xander smiled and punched in the number for the home office. The   
phone was answered after the first ring.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Hello Moneypenny. Don't say I never call."  
  
"To what do I owe this rare honor, Xander?"  
  
"I'm hurt- I can't just call to enjoy your dulcet tones?"  
  
"Not on this line."  
  
While Miss Moneypenny was usually as cheerful and flirtatious as her   
mother had been, the early hour was clearly having an effect on her.  
  
"I have some news for the old man. Could you put me through?"  
  
Xander was answered by a clicking noise over the line, and a gruff   
greeting.  
  
"007?"  
  
"Yes sir. I have some news on Finn."  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"It seems his entire factory is manned by vampires. I took the   
pictures to prove it and dropped them off at our field office. I   
also heard him talking to somebody about operation 'Grand Slam'. I   
don't think that this is just an encryption case any more, sir."  
  
"The code name could simply refer to the chip... but the vampires   
concern me." M sighed. "We're going to have to bring the CIA in on   
this. We have a good working relationship with a man there, but   
don't push it. Officially, you were taking a vacation to visit your   
old home we called and pressed you into service. Am I understood?"  
  
"Yes sir."  
  
"Good. I think you and Felix will get along just fine."  
  
---  
  
Xander exchanged some administrative information with M and then   
headed downstairs to catch the tail end of Buffy's battle briefing.  
  
"Xander- can you handle a crossbow?"  
  
"Pointy end of the arrow away from me, right?"  
  
Buffy gave him a look, then pointed to a spot on the map.  
  
"You'll be stationed here, with Giles. Your job is to hold off any   
vampires in the area- try not to shoot any of us."  
  
---  
  
Xander stood next to Giles on a small hill located in the Olde   
Sunnydale Cemetary. They had a good view of the whole area,   
including the spot where Buffy stood about fifty feet away, holding   
a nasty looking short sword.  
  
The cemetary seemed more ominous than usual. Thunderclouds were   
gathered overhead, and lightning flashed in the distance as thunder   
rolled through the cemetary. It was still only drizzling on the   
Scoobies, but it was clear that the storm could break at any time.  
  
They hadn't seen any vampire activity all night, perhaps due to the   
weather. Vampires didn't like getting wet any more than humans.  
  
Buffy had been in position for about fifteen minutes. She was about   
to turn and ask Giles when Grachnar would be appearing when she saw   
what looked like a small rainbow appear in front of her. Reality   
seemed to twist as the rainbow rippled and expanded. It grew larger   
and larger until finally solidifying into the demon's form.  
  
Grachnar was certainly a physically imposing specimen, standing over   
seven feet tall. His blue colored body was well muscled and criss   
crossed with battle scars. He was wielding a wicked looking blue   
scimitar in his right hand. The only parts of the demon that were   
not blue were his eyes, which glowed an eerie red.  
  
"Fools! Who dares to oppose Grachnar!"  
  
"That would be me."  
  
Grachnar looked around for a moment before looking down and spotting   
the petite form of the Slayer.  
  
"A little girl? I will grind your bones to make my bread!"  
  
"And fee fi fo fum to you too. Is it that hard to be even a little   
original?"  
  
"I-" Grachnar was cut off by the twang of a crossbow being fired,   
followed closely by a loud thwack as the bolt embedded itself into   
his calf.   
  
Grachnar responded to this by howling in agony and falling to the   
ground. He curled up into a fetal ball and rolled around on the   
ground, screaming continuously.  
  
Buffy was puzzled for a moment as she watched this display. She   
then shrugged, raised the sword over her head, and brought it down   
through Grachnar's neck, decapitating him and putting him out of his   
misery. She watched his body dissolve into a green goo, then turned   
to face the approaching forms of Giles and Xander.  
  
"Mind telling me what happened there?"  
  
"Well, suffice it to say," Giles removed his glasses and began to   
polish them. "Not all creatures keep their genitalia in the same   
place."  
  
Giles paused for a moment as he, Oz, and Xander winced in a moment   
of cross species empathy. He then turned to face Xander.  
  
"That was an exceptionally fine shot, by the way."  
  
"Thanks, G-man." Xander summoned up a goofy grin. "Just don't ask   
where I was aiming."  
  
---  
  
Giles and Xander arrived back at Giles' apartment shortly before the   
storm broke. Buffy had elected to walk Willow and Oz home directly   
from the cemetary.   
  
Giles watched the torrents of rain pounding against his windows for   
a moment, then turned to face Xander.  
  
"Are you trying to blow your cover?" Giles asked angrily. "And   
mine as well? Or did you skip the course on *covert* operations?"  
  
"Hey, calm down. You know as well as I do that the girls are never   
going to think of me as anything more dangerous than donut guy. Do   
you really think Buffy is going to guess that I'm a secret agent?"  
  
Xander waited for Giles to stop pacing before sitting down and   
continuing.  
  
"Now look, maybe watching Buffy roll around in the mud fighting a   
demon is your idea of a good time." Xander paused as his eyes   
glazed over slightly. "Never mind. The point is, I'm here to   
accomplish a mission, not stand around in the rain playing demon   
hunter."  
  
Seeing that Giles had calmed down, Xander quickly filled him in on   
the goings on at Riley's factory, and the news from the Home Office.   
Giles had only one question.  
  
"What are you going to do now?"  
  
"I think it's time I met Mr. Finn. Socially."  
  
*** 


	7. Chapter 6

Title: The Hellmouth is Not Enough (Chapter Six)  
  
Author: Randall Stone  
  
Disclaimer: All characters are belong to someone else.  
  
Summary: England's newest secret agent draws Sunnydale duty.  
  
Notes:  
Spoilers: S1-3  
  
Changes: Hopefully everything will be explained in the text. Bug   
me if anything is confusing.  
  
Continuity notes:   
- S3 proceeded as written (I'm assuming a 'self-healing' view of   
history, rather than a 'step on a butterfly and change   
everything' view)  
- Bond notes: The Connery movies happened, and all the events   
from the book happened. None of the Moore, Dalton, or Brosnan   
movies have happened. Instead, Bond moved into gradually less   
physically demanding roles, finally winding up in an advisory   
position for a decade or so before retiring. Think of him as   
looking physically the way Connery did in Entrapment.  
  
This is a fun fic, so I'll be playing a little fast and loose with   
the characters. They should be recognizable, but I'm not making   
any effort to match up with S4 canon.  
  
Note for this chapter: the series' portrayal of a freshman psych   
class was so wildly divergent from reality that I'm ignoring it.  
  
Category: B/X  
Rating: PG-14- nothing worse than what's on the show.  
Feedback: Yes please.  
  
*****  
  
It was a beautiful fall day in Sunnydale, and the steps in front of   
Warren Hall were bustling with activity. Eager freshman and   
sophomore students were rushing towards classes, while jaded   
upperclassmen were busy calculating the minimum number of class   
sessions that they would need to attend to ensure a passing grade.  
  
Buffy and Willow were about to enter Warren Hall on their way to   
their afternoon psychology class when Xander surprised them from   
behind, draping an arm across each of their shoulders.  
  
"And how are the intrepid demon hunters this fine afternoon?" Xander   
asked with a grin.  
  
Buffy and Willow responded by almost simultaneously extricating   
themselves from his arms and whacking on the shoulder. Xander   
rubbed his right shoulder where Buffy had punched him while he   
listened to her response.  
  
"I'm fine, no thanks to your itchy trigger finger.   
  
Xander looked at Buffy in surprise. He knew that she wanted to   
avoid any public displays of affection in front of Willow until she   
had sorted out her own feelings, but she seemed genuinely irritated   
with him.  
  
"Sorry, Buffy. I just saw a demon and reacted. All's well that   
ends well, right?" He knew she would have a hard time resisting   
his puppy dog eyes.  
  
"I guess, but that's the last time I let you point something sharp   
in my general direction." Buffy smiled grudgingly.  
  
"I'm glad that's settled." Xander grinned at them. "I wouldn't   
want anything to mar my appreciation of these hallowed halls of   
education."  
  
"What brings you to these hallowed halls, anyways? Don't you have   
real work to do?" Willow asked.  
  
"I heard Riley Finn was lecturing today, and I decided to take the   
opportunity to sit in on a class and broaden my educational horizons."  
  
The girls looked at him doubtfully.  
  
"OK, fine. Finn owns the largest chip fabrication plant outside of   
Silicon Valley, and landing his business means a big bonus for the   
Xand-man."  
  
Looks of understanding passed across the girls' faces, but they   
still seemed a little doubtful of the whole idea.  
  
"Don't worry, I won't disrupt the class. I just want to get a read   
on Finn, maybe talk to him a bit after class."  
  
---  
  
Though Walsh's class was popular, the lecture hall used for freshman   
psychology courses was enormous, which meant that there was plenty   
of room for Xander to sit in on the lecture and not be noticed. He   
settled down with the girls towards the back of the room after they   
had handed in their papers that were due that day.  
  
Xander observed the ebb and flow of the students as they turned in   
their papers and settled down for the lecture. About one minute   
before the bell rang an odd sight caught his eye.  
  
A young man walked in through the door on Xander's left and walked   
towards the turn in table in the middle of the room. He dropped off   
his paper and, without breaking stride, continued walking straight   
across the room to exit through the doors on Xander's right.  
  
Xander tapped Willow on the shoulder.  
  
"Hey Wills, what's with that guy?"  
  
"Him? Oh, that's Tom. He's in my study group in computer science.   
I guess he has to take this class for his major, but he doesn't care   
for Walsh or the subject matter. He only comes to class to drop off   
his homework and take tests. I don't think Professor Walsh likes   
him very much, but it's against university policy to grade on   
attendance."  
  
Buffy leaned across Willow to talk to both of them.  
  
"I keep trying to talk Willow around to his point of view, but she   
has this whole vision of what college is supposed to be about."  
  
Willow's rejoinder was cut off when a man stood up in the front of   
the room and cleared his throat to get the class's attention.  
  
Xander recognized Riley Finn from his file photographs and his   
covert surveillance. Seeing him clearly now for the first time,   
Xander's first impression was of a powerfully built man who still   
carried himself with a military bearing.  
  
Finn waited until the class had settled down to begin his lecture.  
  
"Hello class. As you should remember from the last time that I was   
here, I'm Dr. Finn. Professor Walsh has asked me here today to talk   
about operant conditioning.  
  
"Now, when I say the words 'operant conditioning', what do you think   
of? Those dogs being conditioned to drool when they heard a bell   
ring, of course. You might say you've been conditioned to recall   
that experiment."  
  
Finn paused to let the polite laughter quiet down, then continued.  
  
"Of course, dogs aren't the only creatures that can be conditioned.   
Humans respond to pain and pleasure just as strongly as any other   
animal. And when you consider that people are generally defined by   
their habits, you see that the ability to change those habits is a   
very powerful thing. Like anything powerful, this ability can be   
abused."  
  
With that, Finn launched into a description of the Stanford Prison   
Experiment. He described how twenty four volunteers were divided at   
random into 'guards' and 'prisoners'. The 'prisoners' were then   
arrested and transferred to a holding facility beneath a Stanford   
lecture hall.  
  
The students sank into their roles with surprising speed. The   
prisoners showed signs of depression and extreme stress as the   
guards grew more sadistic by the day. Finally, the planned two week   
study was ended after only six days because of the extreme effect  
that it was having on all of the participants.  
  
Finn used this example to launch into a discussion of the power of   
social conditioning and the importance of ethical behavior in   
designing psychological experiments.  
  
All in all it was a standard psychology lecture, and if Xander   
thought he detected a sinister edge to Finn's words, perhaps he was   
simply being influenced by his knowledge of the man. Xander was   
pondering these thoughts when the bell rang signifying the end of   
class.  
  
Xander waited for most of the students to stream out of the hall,   
then made his way down to the front of the room where Finn was just   
finishing a conversation with Professor Walsh.  
  
"Dr. Finn. What an honor to meet you."  
  
Finn smiled at him as they shook hands.  
  
"I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage, Mr..."  
  
"Harris. Xander Harris."  
  
"Yes, Mr. Harris. Trying to involve yourself in my business again?"   
  
"Well, I'm not sure if you've been contacted by somebody from our   
sales force before, but-"  
  
"We both know of what I am speaking, Mr. Harris." Riley sighed.   
"You are a clever and resourceful man. Many such men have tried to   
involve themselves in my affairs. Unsuccessfully.  
  
"I would suggest that you count your blessings and leave town.   
Good day, Mr. Harris."  
  
With that, Riley turned and left the room.  
  
Xander walked back up to where Buffy was waiting as he pondered this   
latest development.  
  
"What happened?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Oh, he's proving surprisingly resistant to the Harris charm. Don't   
worry, it's just a matter of time." Xander smiled at her. "Say,   
where's Willow?"  
  
"She has another class across campus that she has to get to. I'm   
done for the day. Well, I'm done with university classes- Giles   
wants me to come over for training."  
  
"I'm actually heading that way myself. You want a ride?"  
  
---  
  
Buffy had to admit that while she and cars were un-mixy things, the   
Aston Martin was a beautiful machine. From the lavishly trimmed   
interior to the powerful rumble of the V12 engine, everything in the   
car seemed designed to impress.  
  
Xander didn't seem to be in a very talkative mood, so Buffy had been   
losing herself in the riding experience for some time when she   
realized that they were going the wrong direction.  
  
"Hey Xand, Giles' apartment is that way." She pointed.  
  
"I know. Don't look now, but I think we're being followed."  
  
Buffy immediately craned her head around to stare at the traffic   
behind them.  
  
"Which one?"  
  
Xander shook his head at her impulsiveness.  
  
"The hearse about three cars back. Please look forward and act like   
nothing is wrong."  
  
Buffy took note of the large black car before turning back around.  
  
"Why would a hearse be following us?"  
  
"Maybe they heard you're bad for business."  
  
"Gee, thanks. Seriously, how do you know they're even following   
us?"  
  
Buffy had hardly finished talking when the unmistakable sound of gun   
fire rang out. Xander saw several bullets impact on the rear   
windscreen and said a brief prayer of thanks for the bulletproof   
glass.  
  
"Xander! They're shooting at- oof!" Buffy's exclamation was cut   
short when the Aston Martin leaped forward as Xander floored the   
gas.  
  
The tires squealed as Xander took a sharp right turn at speed, but   
they held fast to the asphalt. He took the next turn, a left, on a   
four wheel drift, straightening out the car just in time to avoid   
oncoming traffic.  
  
Xander slowed up a bit and took a few more random turns. He was   
just beginning to think that he had lost them when the hearse came   
screaming around a corner to fall into place right behind them.   
  
Xander took a moment to get his bearings and come up with a plan as   
the gunfire continued to ping off of his rear windscreen. Buffy   
started to say something, but he cut her off with a curt hand   
gesture. Then he smiled as he realized where he was, before   
throwing the car into a hard right turn.  
  
The hearse came around the corner right behind them, and stayed   
close behind him as Xander accelerated. Up ahead of them the road   
terminated in a construction project. The crew had dug a hole about   
three stories deep for the foundation of a new building, but had not   
yet filled it in.  
  
When they were about one hundred feet from the hole Xander flipped   
open the center console and triggered the smoke screen. Seconds   
later he turned the car hard to the right and deactivated the smoke   
as the car slid to a stop feet from the pit.  
  
Xander and Buffy then watched as the hearse came barreling out of   
the cloud of smoke, completely missing the turn. It easily smashed   
through the chain link fencing around the construction site before   
launching into a graceful arc from the lip of the hole. The car   
slowly rotated in mid air, finally smashing to the ground on its   
roof fifty feet below.  
  
As the car exploded into a fireball, cooking off all of the   
ammunition that had been inside, Xander turned to Buffy and smiled.  
  
"I believe they were driving to a funeral."  
  
Buffy was still shell shocked by the course of events, and couldn't   
muster up a response. She sat mutely as Xander made cell phone   
calls to Giles and a man named Felix, explaining that Buffy and   
himself, respectively, would be late.  
  
Buffy finally snapped out of it when Xander started the car up and   
drove back in the direction of the school.  
  
"Xander, what the hell is going on here?"  
  
"Buffy, we really don't have time for this... fine, I'll give you   
the Cliff's Notes version." Xander still had a hard time resisting   
her patented Slayer glare. "Basically, Riley Finn is a very bad   
man. I'm trying to gather enough evidence to put him away. I work   
for the British government."  
  
He held up a hand to forestall her questions. "You're going to have   
to wait for the full story. I'm going to try to gather some   
information while Finn thinks that I'm dead. Now, I can drop you   
off at the school, or you can come along to help. Honestly, I'd   
like to have your help, but you're going to have to trust me and do   
as I say."  
  
---  
  
"Tell me again why we're breaking into his office on campus." Buffy   
whispered to Xander as they sneaked through the faculty offices.  
  
"Because, while he won't keep anything sensitive here, he probably   
uses the computer here to access his files." Xander explained, then   
stopped walking at the door marked 'Riley Finn'. He tried the   
handle.  
  
"Locked." Buffy pulled her arm back, preparing to force the door,   
but Xander held his hand up to stop her. He then reached into his   
pocket and pulled out a small object that seemed to consist of a   
handle with a thin metal bar sticking out of the side.  
  
Xander inserted the piece of metal into the lock and then pulled   
the trigger on the device while applying a constant pressure on the   
lock. There was a whirring noise as the bar moved up and down,   
followed by a clicking noise. Xander tried the handle again and the   
door swung open smoothly.  
  
"Electric lockpick." He explained to Buffy. "Don't burgle homes   
without it."  
  
Buffy followed Xander into the room and watched as he gently closed   
the door and walked over to the computer. She looked over his   
shoulder at the computer screen, which was currently displaying a   
forbidding looking login box.  
  
"You're going to hack into this?" She sounded doubtful. "No   
offense Xand, but I never figured you for a computer expert."  
  
"Hey, I can learn things. Besides," Xander grinned as he felt   
something under the desk. "Hacking isn't about the computers, it's   
about the people."  
  
Xander held his hand up to show Buffy the post it note that had been   
stuck under the desk. Written on the note were a login name and   
password. Xander entered these on the computer, then clicked on the   
log in button.  
  
He smiled at Buffy again as the computer started to go through the   
log in process.  
  
"Et voila! I think I can handle the computer. Why don't you take a   
look around the filing cabinets and see if you can find anything?"  
  
Buffy had just reached the nearest filing cabinet when heavy metal   
panels suddenly slammed down in front of the door and windows. She   
turned to Xander only to see him staring intently at the computer   
monitor. Buffy walked over to look at the monitor just in time to   
see a video program finish loading and display the familiar face of   
Riley Finn.  
  
"I'm afraid you underestimate me, Mr. Harris. Do I really seem the   
type of person who would keep their password on their desk?" Finn   
laughed. "I admit you are a very talented driver, but you should   
leave the psychological evaluations to the professionals."  
  
As Finn was speaking, Buffy and Xander could hear the distinctive   
whirr of fans starting up in the ceiling.  
  
"Don't worry, your mistake won't prove fatal- this time. The gas   
that's currently being dispersed into the room will render you   
quite unconscious, but that's all. Good night, Mr. Harris."  
  
Xander held his breath for as long as he could, and attempted to   
force open the door. Buffy added her strength to his, but the metal   
that had been designed to resist rifle fire proved impervious to her   
Slayer strength.  
  
Xander was forced to take a breath after three minutes, and quickly   
fell to the floor unconscious. Buffy was able to hold out longer   
thanks to her Slayer physiology, but she still had to breathe. Ten   
minutes after Finn's video had finished she too lay unconscious on   
the floor.  
  
About half an hour after Buffy had been knocked out the fans   
reversed their direction, removing the knockout gas from the air   
while clean air came into the room from vents in the floor. When   
the automatic sensors determined that the gas level was harmless,   
the metal plates covering the door and windows slid open   
automatically.  
  
As soon as the panels had retracted the door to Riley's office swung   
open, and two figures entered the room to contemplate the   
unconscious bodies.  
  
"They look so innocent when they're asleep, Mr. Miller."  
  
"Like little angels, Mr. Grant."  
  
*** 


	8. Chapter 7

Title: The Hellmouth is Not Enough (Chapter Seven)  
  
Author: Randall Stone  
  
Disclaimer: All characters are belong to someone else.  
  
Summary: England's newest secret agent draws Sunnydale duty.  
  
Notes:  
Spoilers: S1-3  
  
Changes: Hopefully everything will be explained in the text. Bug   
me if anything is confusing.  
  
Continuity notes:   
- S3 proceeded as written (I'm assuming a 'self-healing' view of   
history, rather than a 'step on a butterfly and change   
everything' view)  
- Bond notes: The Connery movies happened, and all the events   
from the book happened. None of the Moore, Dalton, or Brosnan   
movies have happened. Instead, Bond moved into gradually less   
physically demanding roles, finally winding up in an advisory   
position for a decade or so before retiring. Think of him as   
looking physically the way Connery did in Entrapment.  
  
This is a fun fic, so I'll be playing a little fast and loose with   
the characters. They should be recognizable, but I'm not making   
any effort to match up with S4 canon.  
  
Category: B/X  
Rating: PG-14- nothing worse than what's on the show.  
Feedback: Yes please.  
  
*****  
  
Riley smiled at the man standing in front of his desk.  
  
"You wanted to talk to me, Jeff?"  
  
Jeff Baker fidgeted uneasily, examining Riley's office. He seemed   
interested in looking at everything except for his former boss's   
eyes.  
  
One of the ironies of the silicon fabrication industries was that   
despite the sophistication of the end product, few of the assembly   
line workers had any education beyond high school. Jeff was not one   
of the educated few. His tall height and broad build made him   
ideally suited to be a line foreman, but he was out of his depth in   
attempting to confront 'the boss'. Jeff took a moment to summon up   
his courage and launch into his argument.  
  
"Well, you see Dr. Finn, when you fired us all last month, a lot of   
us were kind of left in the cold, you know? I talked to an old high   
school buddy of mine who's in a union, and he says that in   
California you have to give due notice, or a severance package."  
  
"You came in here to ask me for money?"  
  
"Yeah." Jeff looked miserable. "It's just, I'm having a hard time   
making rent, and my buddy said it's the law, and-"  
  
"Jeff, relax." Riley interrupted. "I did handle the reduction in   
force poorly. But I'm going to make things right. In fact, I've   
set up a committee to determine what each employee's severance   
package should be. Would you like to see them?"  
  
"That'd be swell. I can't thank you enough, Dr-"  
  
Jeff was cut off when Riley pressed the hidden button under his desk   
that opened the trap door hidden under Jeff's feet. Riley listened   
to Jeff's surprised shout as he fell down the slide that Riley had   
had installed. Silence fell when Jeff reached the bottom. Riley   
knew that that would only be temporary.  
  
It had been expensive to install the trap door in his office along   
with the slide system that led to the vampire pens downstairs. But,   
Riley decided as he listed to Jeff's terrified screams, it had been   
well worth it.   
  
Riley leaned over his desk and hit the intercom button.  
  
"How are our guests doing?"  
  
"Looks like they'll be up in a half hour or so, sir."  
  
"Excellent. Are you free at eleven?"  
  
"Of course, sir. How was your meeting?"  
  
"He doesn't have any complaints."  
  
---  
  
Like most Watchers, Giles was not a morning person. He was rubbing   
sleep out of his eyes when he answered the unexpected knock at his   
door. He came fully awake with a start when he saw who his visitor   
was.  
  
"Willow! Hello."  
  
"Hi Giles."  
  
"Um, not that I mind you visiting, but isn't it a little early..."  
  
"Some of us are always awake by now. We can't all be 'gentlemen of   
leisure'." Willow's expression turned serious. "Honestly, I'm a   
little worried. Buffy skipped out on our Bronzing last night. Have   
you seen her today?"  
  
"No, I haven't." Giles ushered her inside. "I think I know where   
she is, though. Can you do some research for me, electronically?"  
  
"Sure. I have my laptop with me." Willow fished the computer out   
of her backpack.  
  
"Good. I want you to see what you can find on Finnco."  
  
---  
  
Xander groaned as he swam back into consciousness. His head hurt,   
and his mouth felt like it had been stuffed with cotton. He became   
aware of more aches and pains as the feeling returned to his   
extremities. Apparently whatever had taken him down had knocked him   
out so thoroughly that his body didn't even move into a comfortable   
resting position.  
  
"Good morning sleepy head."  
  
"Buffy." Xander squinted up at her. "Where are we?"  
  
"Your guess is as good as mine. Probably better. Wherever it is-"   
Buffy gestured around the room, which Xander could now see was some   
kind of cell. "We're not going anywhere."  
  
"Lovely." Xander sat up after a bit of a struggle, and started   
rubbing his temples. "I don't suppose there's any chance we could   
break out."  
  
"I don't think the vampire out there with the gun would appreciate   
it. God, Xander, what have you gotten us in to now?"  
  
"Me? It's not my- well, actually, I guess it is my fault."  
  
Xander was saved from any further unhappy introspection by the   
guard, who chose that moment to enter the cell along with a couple   
of his friends.  
  
"Boss wants to see you. Come with us." The guard gestured with his   
gun.  
  
Xander and Buffy looked at each other, then wordlessly complied,   
following their captors out of the cell and down a long hallway.   
Xander kept his eyes open for any chance to escape, but one of the   
vampires always stood out of arm's reach with his gun leveled at the   
captives.  
  
They climbed a flight of stairs and passed through two security   
checkpoints before arriving in a conference room. The room was   
large, and would easily be able to accommodate groups of twenty   
people or more. The dominating feature of the room was a large   
rectangular table that nearly bisected the room lengthwise. There   
were four people seated across one side of the table.  
  
Xander recognized Riley Finn and Maggie Walsh, but not the other two   
men. They shared the same thin build and had identical Hispanic   
features on their faces. Xander idly guessed that they were   
identical twins, but quickly turned his attention to Riley Finn as   
the guards directed Xander and Buffy into the seats across from him.  
  
"Welcome to my compound, Mr. Harris. I must admit that your   
determination is quite impressive."  
  
"Wait a minute." Buffy interrupted. "I've been wondering for a   
while- how did Xander get mixed up in all this?"  
  
"It's kind of a long story, Buff-" Xander started to say before   
Riley cut him off.  
  
"Mr. Harris is a secret agent of the British Government."  
  
"I guess it wasn't so long."  
  
"Yes, but the matter of your employment is the subject that   
compelled me to bring you here today. A man with your skills and   
ruthless nature could go far in this organization."  
  
"What possible reason would I have to work for you?"  
  
"For one thing, I will be running this country in a few months. You   
can get in now on the ground floor."  
  
"The ground floor of an insane asylum! You might be making good   
money smuggling your computer chips around, but you don't have the   
ability to take over anything."  
  
"I'll forgive your skepticism, Mr. Harris, since you don't yet   
understand the full picture."   
  
Riley pulled an object out of his pocket and tossed it on the table   
in front of Xander. Xander picked it up to examine it closely. It   
looked like a small computer chip with two fine wires running out   
of one end.  
  
"You understand the basis of operant conditioning, don't you Mr.   
Harris? The carrot and the stick. Well, what you hold in your   
hands represents the ultimate carrot and ultimate stick.  
  
"Imagine a computer chip, implanted in the subject's skull. One   
wire run to the pleasure center of the brain, the other to the pain   
center. When the subject does something I want, a quick jolt of   
electricity brings them unparalleled bliss. When they do something   
wrong, the same level of electricity causes unimaginable pain.  
  
"Surely you've wondered why my vampire employees have never turned   
on me, despite my physical vulnerability. Watch."  
  
Riley stood and summoned one of his guards over. He ordered the   
vampire to try to hit him. Caught between the twin compulsions of   
following Finn's orders and not harming Finn, the vampire hesitated   
for a moment before preparing himself and launching a punch. The   
vampire collapsed in pain before his fist was even halfway to Finn.  
  
Xander laughed.  
  
"Nice try, Finn. You think I'll be intimidated by an obvious lie   
like that? Even if the chip weren't technologically impossible, the   
surgery required to implant it would be far too invasive to   
survive. You'll have to do better than that to scare me into   
anything."  
  
"I fear I've been remiss in introducing the other members of my   
team. Professor Walsh you know, of course. These other two men are   
Juan and Carlos- two shamans that I met in Colombia. Their tireless   
efforts to marry magic and technology are what led to the success of   
project Grand Slam and the chip that you hold in your hand.  
  
"And while our original installation procedure was too messy for   
anybody but vampires to survive, we have refined it over time until   
it is quite effective on humans. Maggie here was the first   
recipient."  
  
Xander could tell from Walsh's expression that Riley was telling the   
truth.  
  
"So you see, Mr. Harris, when I say that you will go far in this   
organization, I'm afraid that your consent will not be required."  
  
Riley gestured for the guards to take Buffy and Xander to the   
operating room. They walked out of the room, stunned into silence,   
as Finn got in his final words.  
  
"And Miss Summers... well, perhaps you will finally finish your   
homework on time."  
  
---  
  
Xander cursed to himself as he looked around, maintaining an   
outwardly calm facade while desperately searching for any means of   
escape. He could see Buffy beside him doing the same thing.  
  
But there was just no way that they could overpower their guards.   
The guards' extreme paranoia towards Xander after his past escapades   
led them to maintain a formation that would prevent even a vampire   
slayer from escaping. In addition to the two large vampires at   
their sides, two additional vampiric guards followed about ten paces   
behind the group with their automatic rifles trained on the   
prisoners, ready to fire at the slightest provocation.  
  
Buffy and Xander were left with no choice but to follow Walsh and   
the twin shamans as they led the group to their destination. Xander   
couldn't help but be impressed when they finally passed through a   
set of double doors and saw the interior of the operating room.  
  
It was a large, circular room that would not have looked out of   
place in a hospital. The room was organized into two tiers. The   
outer ring was used for observation and contained a variety of   
support machinery as well as providing a platform for reading the   
panoply of monitors on the outer wall.  
  
In the center of the room there was a good sized operating area sunk   
a few feet into the floor. The area provided enough room for two   
surgical tables and space for the operating surgeon and their   
support team to work.  
  
The surgical tables occupied more of Xander's attention as he and   
Buffy were ushered towards them. As he drew closer he could see   
that the tables were solidly constructed, consisting of a five inch   
thick slab of solid steel mounted on top of a wheeled framework.   
The shackles near the head and foot of the table were the only   
indicator of the involuntary nature of the surgery about to be   
performed.  
  
The other thing that caught Xander's eye before he was strapped to   
one of the operating tables was a distinctive coat slung across one   
of the chairs in the outer ring of the room. It was the coat that   
he had been wearing earlier, and he could even make out the   
distinctive shape of his shoulder holster underneath. He realized   
that Finn must be so confident in his chip that he intended to   
rearm Xander as soon as the operation was complete.  
  
Professor Walsh had the guards remove Buffy and Xander's shirts   
before shackling them to their respective tables; Xander was   
restrained on his back with Buffy on his right. As Walsh prepared   
herself for surgery, the vampiric guards stationed themselves on the   
outer ring, two on Buffy's side of the room and two on Xander's.   
While all of this was going on the shamans were busy setting up for   
a ritual on the outer ring near the guards on Xander's side of the   
room.  
  
Xander struggled futilely against his bonds as Walsh finished her   
preparation and walked over to him. She looked at him with some   
amusement evident on her face before launching into an explanation   
of the procedure.  
  
"You remember when your teacher taught you in kindergarten that no   
two people are exactly alike, Mr. Harris? In a way she was right.   
There are an infinite number of variations on the human brain. Each   
one handles pain in a different way. The signals flow through the   
same general area in each person, of course, but always in a   
subtlely different way.  
  
"That poses a bit of a problem for our device. We could just jam a   
wire in the right general area and run a heaping amount of current   
through, of course. But that doesn't provide us with a very fine   
degree of control, and it's not very elegant.  
  
"So, once the twins have finished setting up their monitoring spell,   
we'll be testing how your brain handles various kinds of pain."  
  
Walsh gestured at the broad variety of pain inflicting tools sitting   
on a small wheeled table next to Xander's head.  
  
"We'll start with the piercing implements, I think." Walsh mused,   
reaching for a straight pin. "Though I do so enjoy the effects of   
heat. It is a dilemma.  
  
"But then, why choose just one?" She smiled evilly as she held the   
pin against a heating element.  
  
Xander increased the intensity of his attempts to escape, to no   
avail.  
  
"You may as well save your energy, Mr. Harris. No human could   
possibly break those shackles."  
  
"I know." Xander suddenly quit struggling and smiled at her.  
  
Maggie stared at him uneasily for a moment. Before she could think   
of something to say she was distracted by a tremendous crashing   
noise from behind her. She spun around and saw that Buffy had   
managed to tip her entire table onto its side. The slayer tore off   
the last shackle restraining her and leapt to her feet while Walsh   
was still in shock from what she was seeing.  
  
Buffy knocked her professor out with a single punch before pulling   
Xander's table onto its side in order to provide them with some   
cover while she freed him.  
  
"Thanks." Xander gasped out as Buffy tore off the last restraint,   
allowing him to roll to the floor. "I was starting to get worried.   
I can't believe that woman got tenure."  
  
"Would you want to be the one to say 'no' to her?"  
  
Xander stared at Buffy for a moment before breaking into a small   
grin.  
  
"Good point. So, got any ideas to get us out of this mess?"  
  
"Me? Which one of us is a secret agent?"  
  
"You're not going to let that go for a while, are you?" After Buffy   
shook her head, Xander continued. "Well, I saw my things over there   
when we came into the room. If I can get to my gun, we should be   
all right. Judging from the lack of gunfire, they're going to try   
to capture us alive. We should be seeing some hot shot vampire   
right about..."  
  
At that moment, one of the guards vaulted over Xander's table,   
brandishing his rifle. Xander quickly yanked the gun out of the   
vampire's hands after Buffy stunned it with a quick jab. Buffy   
grabbed the reeling vampire by the throat and bodily threw him over   
her table towards the two guards on her side of the room.  
  
Even as the vampire was careening into his companions, Buffy leapt   
over the table to follow up on the attack. Meanwhile, Xander ran   
from their temporary sanctuary towards his trusty PPK. As he ran,   
Xander squeezed off a burst of fire towards the one remaining   
vampire on his side of the room. In his first bit of good luck for   
the day, one of the bullets struck the vampire's gun dead on,   
rendering it useless.  
  
Xander took advantage of this respite to take stock of the   
situation. Standing next to the vampire about thirty feet away from   
him were the twin shamans. They seemed to have abandoned their   
sensing spell and were chanting something that sounded quite   
malevolent. An evil haze was thickening around them as Xander   
watched.  
  
Xander had to come to a decision quickly. He raised the rifle and   
took careful aim before squeezing off two shots, placing one bullet   
into the brain of each of the shamans. The haze in the air   
disappeared when they died.  
  
Xander now had just one angry vampire to deal with. Xander began   
backing towards his coat as the vampire charged at him. He switched   
the rifle over to full automatic fire and sprayed the vampire with   
bullets in an attempt to slow him down. This had little effect on   
the vampire's charge but did slow him down enough that Xander   
reached his jacket while the vampire was still ten feet away.  
  
Xander quickly reached under his jacket and withdrew his Walther   
PPK, leveling it at the vampire. The vampire simply stopped in his   
tracks and placed his hands on his hips, thrusting out his bullet   
riddled chest and smiling at Xander.  
  
Xander smiled back at the vampire before squeezing off two shots,   
one aimed at each thigh. The vampire's smile only broadened after   
the impact as he began to advance towards Xander again. The   
vampire's smile soon turned into a puzzled look, and then into a   
pain filled grimace as he fell to the floor, clawing furiously at   
his legs and howling in agony.  
  
Xander took a moment to congratulate himself on his foresight in   
loading his gun with the vamp killer ammo before retrieving a stake   
from his jacket's inner pocket. Xander walked over to the vampire   
and plunged the stake into the vampire's heart. He thought he saw   
an almost grateful look cross the vampire's face before it turned   
to dust.  
  
Xander rose to his feet and surveyed the room. Buffy was easily   
handling the other three vampires. She had managed to disarm them   
early in the fight and was now dominating the conflict. She was   
inflicting massive amounts of damage on the vampires but lacked the   
means to finish them off.  
  
"Buffy, catch!"   
  
Xander threw the stake to her overhand as soon as she turned around.  
Buffy easily snatched the stake out of the air and turned back to   
her fight. Seconds later, the vampires were dust.  
  
"Good work, Buffy." Xander congratulated her as he walked across   
the room to the slayer, stopping a few feet in front of her. "I   
guess I had a plan after all."  
  
"Yep, got us out of danger and everything." Buffy smiled at him.   
"Now, how can I ever thank you?"  
  
Xander leaned down as Buffy slowly closed the distance between them   
to capture his lips in a passionate kiss. A very passionate kiss.   
Not that kissing Buffy was ever a routine experience, but this was   
the first time that Xander had actually seen stars while kissing a   
girl. He lost himself in the moment for a while, until he   
remembered the urgency of the situation and pulled away.  
  
Buffy and Xander stared at each other for a moment, before Xander   
spoke.  
  
"That was... intense."  
  
"Yeah." Buffy paused. "I think before, my Slayer sense could tell   
that you were hiding something from me. So subliminally, it was   
holding me back. But now that I know about your big secret, my   
subconscious will let me really commit to something."  
  
"Yeah. Also, before, we had our shirts on."  
  
Buffy jumped a little in surprise before running over to the table   
where Walsh had left their shirts.  
  
"So what's the plan now, secret agent man?"  
  
"Well, first, we get dressed." Xander smiled at her. "Then, we   
save the world."  
  
"Again? I should get a punch card or something."  
  
*** 


	9. Chapter 8

Title: The Hellmouth is Not Enough (Chapter Eight)  
  
Author: Randall Stone  
  
Disclaimer: All characters are belong to someone else.  
  
Summary: England's newest secret agent draws Sunnydale duty.  
  
Notes:  
Spoilers: S1-3  
  
Changes: Hopefully everything will be explained in the text. Bug   
me if anything is confusing.  
  
Continuity notes:   
- S3 proceeded as written (I'm assuming a 'self-healing' view of   
history, rather than a 'step on a butterfly and change   
everything' view)  
- Bond notes: The Connery movies happened, and all the events   
from the book happened. None of the Moore, Dalton, or Brosnan   
movies have happened. Instead, Bond moved into gradually less   
physically demanding roles, finally winding up in an advisory   
position for a decade or so before retiring. Think of him as   
looking physically the way Connery did in Entrapment.  
  
This is a fun fic, so I'll be playing a little fast and loose with   
the characters. They should be recognizable, but I'm not making   
any effort to match up with S4 canon.  
  
Category: B/X  
Rating: PG-14- nothing worse than what's on the show.  
Feedback: Yes please.  
  
*****  
  
"OK, so now what." Buffy whispered to Xander.  
  
The two of them were in the hallway outside of the central control   
room of the factory. They had found the place easily enough by   
following signs scattered throughout the building, and Buffy had had   
no problems dusting the guards outside the room.  
  
Buffy and Xander were now crouching down under the windows   
overlooking the control room. Xander risked sitting up to take a   
quick peek inside.  
  
"We're in luck- there's only one man inside. We still can't risk   
having him raise the alarm." Xander looked at Buffy. "You think   
you can pull off the little girl lost routine?"  
  
Buffy reached up and pulled a few strands of hair out of her   
ponytail then shook her head back and forth, giving her a slightly   
disheveled appearance. She completed the look by lowering her eyes   
slightly and giving Xander her best pout.  
  
"I think I can manage."  
  
Xander smiled at Buffy and gave her a thumbs up. He began counting   
the time to himself when she entered the control room. He had   
reached five when he heard a muffled thud from inside and made his   
way in to see Buffy standing next to an unconscious staffer.  
  
"Good work, Buffy. Let's see what we can dig up."  
  
Xander sat at the terminal abandoned by the now unconscious man and   
began his investigation. He was quickly rewarded with a map of the   
entire facility that illustrated where they were in relation to   
their cells and to the factory floor. With a little further   
digging, Xander was able to pull up live video feeds from the   
surveillance cameras. He could see Finn schmoozing with his guests.   
They all seemed to be getting along, but judging from the number of   
armed guards in the picture, Xander guessed that that state of   
affairs wasn't going to last. He was about to tell Buffy of his   
discoveries when she spoke first.  
  
"Hey Xand, check this out."  
  
Xander obidiently stood and walked over to look over Buffy's   
shoulder. On the screen he saw what appeared to be a list of   
phrases, each adjacent to two check boxes. Looking closer at the   
phrases, he saw that each one described a behavior or action.  
  
"I don't believe it. Is this really..."  
  
"Yep. Looks like all those little mind control chips are controlled   
by computer."  
  
"Could we turn the vampires against him?"  
  
"Nope." Buffy scrolled up to the directions at the top of the   
screen. "All the greyed out commands are hard wired, and the red   
ones are password protected. Most of the rest are pretty petty."  
  
Buffy scrolled through the list again.  
  
"I mean, we could set it so they get zapped when they pick their   
noses, or when they swear... Really, the most useful part of the   
program is over here." Buffy clicked on a tab, bringing up an map   
of the facility. The map was overlaid with a number of dots, which   
moved in real time.  
  
"Tracking the vamps? That is handy. Let's take one more look at   
those behavior modifications, though."  
  
"I'm telling you, there's not much there." Buffy clicked back over   
and started running through the list once again. "Cracking their   
knuckles, scratching themselves inappropriately... ooh, this is a   
good one."  
  
Nestled in with all of the other unsecured option was the simple   
phrase 'Fire projectile weapons'. Xander smiled when he saw it and   
things clicked into place in his head.  
  
"Great. Let me go make a phone call. I think I have a plan."  
  
---  
  
Xander looked at his watch. Thirty seconds until he needed to move.   
He was currently leaning against the wall to the side of the doorway   
leading to one of the catwalks that straddled the factory floor.   
There were two catwalks crossing above the room horizontally and two   
crossing vertically, forming a rectangle over the room.   
  
One human sentry was stationed at each corner of the rectangle,   
watching over the room. Xander and Buffy had determined that the   
sentries were human by comparing the dots on the tracking program to   
the number of creatures visible in the security video. The fact   
that the sentries were human was a mixed blessing; while they did   
not possess any supernatural strength or toughness, they also did   
not have a chip in their heads that would prevent them from using   
their firearms.  
  
That was what Xander was there to do. He checked his watch again.   
Go time.  
  
Moving as silently as he could, Xander glided towards the sentry   
closest to him. He was helped by the fact that all of the sentries   
were focusing their attention on events taking place on the ground   
below them. Xander took a quick glance to see what was happening-   
apparently Finn had just told the governor of his plans, and was   
having his party taken away under armed guard.  
  
Warned by some instinct of danger, the sentry turned around when   
Xander was about a pace away. Before the guard could cry out,   
Xander struck him in the throat with the edge of his hand. The   
guard was still trying to catch his breath and raise his weapon when   
Xander grabbed his head and twisted, breaking his neck.  
  
Without pausing, Xander grabbed a grenade off of the guard's belt,   
pulled the pin, and tossed it at the guard diagonally across from   
him. The explosion drew the attention of the remaining sentries,   
along with that of the people on the ground. Xander smoothly drew   
his pistol and shot the last two sentries while they were still   
looking for the pieces of their companion.  
  
Xander had already removed the clip from his gun and was slotting   
home the vampire killer ammunition when the entire building was   
rocked by an enormous explosion. Xander looked up to see a gaping   
hole where the loading dock doors had been. He grinned.  
  
"Felix really does know how to make an entrance."  
  
---  
  
Buffy waited patiently for the procession of prisoners to arrive.   
She was standing in a small alcove, out of sight of the main   
hallway. From her vantage point she could see the group stop when   
they heard the explosion from the main room. Buffy waited for them   
to move, but the vampires seemed involved in a heated discussion   
amongst themselves. She finally decided to take matters into her   
own hands and stepped in front of the group.  
  
"Hey guys, going my way?"  
  
"I really don't want to deal with this right now," the apparent   
leader of the vampires commented as he leveled his assault rifle at   
Buffy. He jerked with surprise as attempting to place his finger on   
the trigger caused a familiar agony to course through his body.  
  
"Now, now, let's not bring guns to a stake fight." Buffy smiled at   
him, twirling her stake in her right hand.  
  
The vampire growled at her as he threw his guns aside.  
  
"I've never needed a gun to kill a little girl like you before."   
  
"You know, if I had a nickel for every time I heard that... well,   
I'd have a lot more nickels."  
  
---  
  
Meanwhile, the vampires in the main factory room were making the   
same unpleasant discovery about their firearms as Riley screamed at   
them to kill the CIA agents streaming into the room. The vampires   
reacted to this in the same manner as their brethren, charging at   
the agents with a roar of fury.  
  
The stream of gunfire from the agents had little effect on the tide   
of vampires. Xander picked off as many as he could from his vantage   
point, but it was clear that the CIA men were going to be   
overwhelmed.  
  
Xander was just starting to worry when he saw a tanker truck backing   
into the room, complete with two men manning the hose attached to   
the tank. The charging vampires hardly had time to wonder at the   
purpose of the truck before the men unleashed a stream of water in   
their direction. The nature of the tank's contents was made clear   
when it impacted the first wave of attackers and the room was filled   
with pain filled screams and the sound of dusting vampires.  
  
"You can never have too much holy water." Xander commented to   
himself as he continued to pick off straggling vampires from his   
perch on the catwalk. He tried to keep track of the number of   
vampires killed, but it was hard to keep track as more and more were   
hosed down.  
  
Riley Finn was doing some calculations of his own as he emptied his   
pistol firing at the men manning the hose. He was gratified to see   
one go down, but cursed as another took his place without   
interrupting the stream of death being sprayed on his guards. Riley   
reached into his pocket and cursed again as he realized that that   
was his last clip. He'd let himself go soft in civilian life,   
counting on others to provide his firepower. Somehow his vampires   
were now being hampered by the same chip that he had used to mold   
them into an effective fighting unit, and Riley had a sinking   
suspiscion that he knew who was behind it. That damned Xander   
Harris.  
  
No matter. The important thing now was that he get himself to his   
office, and to the secret escape tunnel attached to it. From there   
he could get to the plane he'd registered under a different name,   
and he could be out of the country by sunset. There would be plenty   
of time to get Harris later.  
  
Riley climbed up the ladder to the catwalk, taking the most direct   
route to his office. His planning for future revenge was derailed   
when he swung up onto the catwalk and came face to face with the   
target of his anger.  
  
Xander attempted to bring his pistol to bear on Riley, but Finn was   
too close. Riley blocked Xander's arm with his left arm before   
chopping down with his right hand on a nerve cluster near Xander's   
elbow, forcing him to drop his gun.  
  
The gun fell to the ground far below as Xander focused on taking   
Riley down hand to hand. He was able to catch Finn in the nose with   
a quick jab, but Riley blocked the follow up left cross and Xander   
barely ducked his powerful roundhose.  
  
Xander dropped back a step and considered the situation. He knew   
that he was well trained, and in good condition. But Finn was good   
too, and had about three inches and fifty pounds on him. And he   
knew that it was a law that might as well be written in stone: a   
good big man will always beat a good little man. The only advantage   
Xander had was that he didn't have to win- he just had to delay Finn   
long enough for Felix to get control of the room.  
  
All of this was passing through Xander's head as he blocked Riley's   
next attack and drove him back with a quick front kick, jab   
combination. None of his attacks were really hurting Finn, but   
Xander could tell that the big man was getting increasingly   
desperate, and decided to try to get under his skin.  
  
"Aren't you going to make me another job offer?"  
  
Riley responded by trying to get past Xander by simply rushing him.   
Fortunately, Xander had anticipated this and smoothly sidestepped   
him, flipping the charging man over his hip as he passed. Finn went   
flying over the guard rail and crashed against the wall of the   
factory. Somewhat to Xander's surprise, Riley crashed through the   
wall and onto some kind of slide. Before Xander could react, he   
had slid, screaming, out of sight.  
  
---  
  
Riley realized where he was as soon as he felt the slide underneath   
him. The slide ended about ten feet up in the air, and Riley hit   
the ground and performed a solid forward roll. When he popped up to   
his feet he was holding onto the cross that he always kept in his   
pocket as a last ditch safety measure.   
  
Unfortunately, the cross offered scant protection against the five   
starving vampires in the pit with him. As Riley manouvered to put   
his back against a wall he looked for some way to escape, but he had   
designed the room to well. A smooth sided pit with walls stretching   
well over his head, the only way to get out was via the ladder that   
was kept on the floor, ten feet above his head.  
  
As he was desperately searching for a way out, Riley's eyes fell on   
an unexpected figure standing above him.  
  
"Maggie! What are you doing down here? Never mind that, get me out   
of here."   
  
Walsh simply stood there looking at him.  
  
"Maggie, that's an order! Get the ladder down here!"  
  
At this, Walsh simply threw back her head and laughed.  
  
"What the hell is going on here? The chip-"  
  
"Was never implanted in my head. You thought the shamans were   
working for you?" Walsh looked at him and shook her head. "You're   
more of a fool than I thought. But worse than that, you're a   
failure. And the penalty for failure, Number Five, is death."  
  
With that, Walsh turned and walked away. Riley stared after her for   
a moment, before turning back to the vampires.  
  
"No! Stay back, you! I've got a cross. I'll stake you, too, if   
you - aargh."  
  
---  
  
Xander listened with some curiousity at the vent into which Finn had   
disappeared. He thought he could make out some kind of   
conversation, but that was soon replaced with the unmistakeable   
scream of a man being torn apart by vampires.  
  
Xander shook his head and climbed down to the main floor, where he   
could see an older man barking orders at the CIA team securing the   
area.  
  
"Felix Leiter?" Xander called out as he approached.  
  
"Yes." Felix turned to face him. "007?"  
  
"How did you know?"  
  
Felix gestured at the room around them. The factory room was a   
mess, scarred by explosions and gunfire. Holy water was everywhere,   
mostly mixed with vampire ashes to form a sort of sludge. Small   
electrical fires were flickering in some of the equipment.  
  
"The style seemed familiar."  
  
The two men shared a smile, before Felix brought up the reason for   
his intervention.  
  
"Is the governor safe?"  
  
"Right as rain, thanks to this young lady here." The governor   
boomed out. He had followed Buffy back into the main room with his   
entourage in tow.  
  
"You should have seen it, Felix. She saved our lives. We're   
definitely going to name a street after you, young lady. And an   
awards ceremony- say next Tuesday?" The governor turned to one of   
the men with him. "How's my Tuesday?"  
  
"Actually sir," Xander interrupted, "we're going to be on a cruise   
this week. In fact, I'm afraid we're going to have to get going   
now."  
  
Xander took Buffy by the arm and beat a hasty retreat, leaving Felix   
to deal with the grateful governor. They weren't far away before   
Buffy turned to him.  
  
"A cruise? When did you schedule this?"  
  
"Actually," Xander smiled, "I found the tickets on Finn's desk."  
  
"You naughty boy." Buffy laughed. "Hey, whatever happened to him   
anyways."  
  
"Oh, I'm afraid he was eaten by somebody who disagreed with him."  
  
--- 


	10. Epilogue

Title: The Hellmouth is Not Enough (Epilogue)  
  
Author: Randall Stone  
  
Disclaimer: All characters are belong to someone else.  
  
Summary: England's newest secret agent draws Sunnydale duty.  
  
Notes:  
Spoilers: S1-3  
  
Changes: Hopefully everything will be explained in the text. Bug   
me if anything is confusing.  
  
Continuity notes:   
- S3 proceeded as written (I'm assuming a 'self-healing' view of   
history, rather than a 'step on a butterfly and change   
everything' view)  
- Bond notes: The Connery movies happened, and all the events   
from the book happened. None of the Moore, Dalton, or Brosnan   
movies have happened. Instead, Bond moved into gradually less   
physically demanding roles, finally winding up in an advisory   
position for a decade or so before retiring. Think of him as   
looking physically the way Connery did in Entrapment.  
  
This is a fun fic, so I'll be playing a little fast and loose with   
the characters. They should be recognizable, but I'm not making   
any effort to match up with S4 canon.  
  
Category: B/X  
Rating: PG-14- nothing worse than what's on the show.  
Feedback: Yes please.  
  
*****  
  
"There's our happy couple. They're getting off the ship now, with   
the rest of the tour group." Graham lowered his binoculars. "I   
must say, Ms. Summers is quite attractive."  
  
Graham backpedalled under Forrest's glare. "For a woman, Mr. Grant."   
  
Forrest nodded, then set about gathering up their equipment.  
  
"Nice of them to arrive on time. Ready to go for a walk, Mr.   
Miller?"  
  
"Of course." Graham smiled. "You know how I hate leaving loose   
ends untied, Mr. Grant."  
  
---  
  
"This cruise was a really good idea, Xander." Buffy sighed and   
snuggled back into his arms. "I really needed a break."  
  
The two of them had sneaked away from the rest of the tour group and   
made their way up into the hills of the nameless Caribbean island.   
While the rest of the group was busy touring sights of dubious   
historical significance, Buffy and Xander were enjoying a beautiful   
ocean view from a deserted cliff top.  
  
"I'm glad you're enjoying it."   
  
Xander took a quick look at his watch. Buffy caught the glance, and   
looked at him questioningly.  
  
"Are we going to get in any trouble for leaving the group?"  
  
"No, the ship doesn't leave for another three hours." Xander   
laughed. "Besides, what kind of trouble could we get into here in   
the middle of nowhere?"  
  
Buffy was chuckling along with Xander when they were interrupted by   
the distinctive sound of a safety being released. Buffy and Xander   
spun around simultaneously to see a slim black man standing next to   
a large white man, each holding a pistol trained on the pair. The   
two men were standing about ten feet apart, giving them each a good   
line of fire covering any potential escape.  
  
"Whoever you are, I'm afraid we're not carrying any money. We're   
part of the-"  
  
"Stow it, Harris." The black man commanded. "I'm not interested in   
hearing anything from you just yet."  
  
Forrest gestured with his gun. "Miss Summers, walk over to my   
friend here."  
  
Buffy slowly walked towards the pair. Graham kept her covered with   
his pistol while he reached for the handcuffs on his belt. Forrest   
kept his gun on Xander the whole time.  
  
When Buffy reached Graham, she quietly held out her hands for him to   
cuff. As he was putting the restraints on, Graham had to lower his   
gun and glance down to see what he was doing. That was all the   
opening that Buffy needed. A nifty left footed kick removed the gun   
from his hand, and Buffy followed up the attack with two punches to   
the gut, winding the big man.  
  
Graham responded instinctively by charging at Buffy, closing the   
distance between them to negate her speed advantage. Despite her   
slayer strength, Graham's bulk was sufficient to bear them both to   
the ground. They rolled around for a moment with neither one   
clearly in control.  
  
Forrest swung around in time to see them hit the ground, but   
couldn't get a clean shot off with both combatants locked together   
on the ground. Forrest realized that he had temporarily forgotten   
about Xander and turned back just in time to see Xander finish   
drawing his PPK and fire two rounds into his chest.  
  
Buffy responded to the gunshots by clocking Graham upside the head   
and springing to her feet. She smiled when she saw Xander standing   
unhurt, and took a couple of steps towards him. When she saw his   
eyes widen she immediately threw herself to the ground as he raised   
his pistol and fired two more shots.  
  
Buffy looked behind her to see that Graham had been dazed by her   
punch, but not knocked out entirely. He had managed to stagger to   
his feet and draw his hold out pistol from a leg holster.   
Fortunately, Xander had shot him before he could bring his gun to   
bear.  
  
Realizing that the immediate danger was over, Buffy ran forward and   
grabbed Xander in a tight embrace. After a moment, she pulled back   
to look Xander in the eye.  
  
"Is this sort of thing going to happen a lot?"  
  
"At least it's a nice change of pace from all the demons, right?"   
Xander grinned sheepishly.  
  
Buffy nodded in agreement, then leaned forward to capture Xander's   
lips in a passionate kiss. Just as Xander was beginning to respond,   
she pulled back and giggled uncontrollably.  
  
"Hey, what's so funny?"  
  
"Oh, it's not you." Buffy managed to get out. "I was just trying   
to imagine the look on Giles' face when he finds out you're a secret   
agent."  
  
---  
  
THE END  
  
of  
  
The Hellmouth is Not Enough  
  
but  
  
Xander Harris will return  
  
in  
  
From Sunnydale, With Love  
  
  
* * *   
  
At least, he will if I get some feedback. Come on guys, if you took   
the time to read this far, you can take the time to write a review.  
  
--Randy 


End file.
